Rika's Return: The Clone Wars
by Madd the sane
Summary: When Rika gets home from College in the U.S., she finds out that someone has cloned the Devas and is planning on taking over Japan. Please Read and Review. Part 1 of 3
1. On my Way home

I have decided to do a final proofread and update this story. If you don't like something I did, tell me what I did. I still won't update the remainder of the story until I get more reviews on this one, so please read and review.

* * *

Rika's Return:  
The Clone Wars  
by Madd the Sane

Copyright Notice: I do not own the copyright to Digimon or any of the Digimon mentioned in this story. Digimon is copyright © Toei Animation, Co. Ltd. and related affiliates.

**On My Way Home**

"Rika Nonaka,"

A red-head with hair going a little beyond the nape of her neck, dressed in her graduation robes, stood up to cheers and applause as she accepted her college diploma, trying not to think too much about her own high school graduation and what followed thereafter, even if it was in another country…

* * *

"_Jeri Katou,"_

_A 5-feet 5-inch brunette got up to take her Diploma. The same red-haired woman, but with her longer hair done up in her classic spiky ponytail, dressed in different graduation robes, stood up to cheer her friend. A few more of her friends got up to cheer their friend on as she took the diploma offered to her._

"_Kenta Kitagawa,"_

_The redhead reluctantly got to her feet and clapped halfheartedly for him. _He isn't too bad by himself. However, with Kazu… _She shuddered at the thought._

"_Takato Matsuki,"_

_Many people, including his girlfriend Jeri, got up and cheered him as he got his diploma. He stood almost 6-feet 2-inches, showing that he inherited most of his father's height. The redhead began to think about her own path._

I've come a long way. A very long way. I can't believe that I'm graduating! After this, my mom won't be able to force me into any embarrassing photo shoots…

"_Rika Nonaka,"_

_The redhead stood up to cheers and applause as she accepted her high school diploma, thinking about all the hard work that she went through to get to this day. She had done her best work getting this. _And I deserve it,_ she thought._

_She sat down and waited for her remaining friend to get his diploma. She knew what she was going to do when one particular friend's name was going to be read._

"_Kazu Shioda,"_

_She didn't even get up for him, wondering herself how he graduated. _Probably got his father or some other rich relative to pay the school to get him through. Wonder how far he'll go in college,_ she thought darkly._

"_Henry Wong,"_

_She, herself, stood up to cheer her friend. It had been hard to persuade her mother to put her in the same high school as Takato and Henry, and she thinks her grandma helped her with her mom's decision, but she still isn't sure._

Now, what am I going to do for the rest of my life?_ she wondered…_

_

* * *

_

After going back to her apartment, she decided to write an e-mail to her friends. She had returned her graduation robes after the ceremony and had on her midnight blue shirt with dark blue Jeans. Unlike her high school graduation, she knew exactly what she wanted: to go home. She had bought the ticket a month ago, after making sure that her credits were OK.

_Now I just got to tell everyone… no, wait! I'll just tell grandma that I'm coming over,_ she thought, _and surprise everyone else_ _by saying I'll be staying here for a while._ She didn't like the "surprise" birthday party that they did when she turned 14, but that may have been because she didn't really participate, retreating into herself and thinking about her dad when Susie and Kazu asked her to sing. _Of course, it didn't help that stupid Parasimon tried to kill Renamon and Takato and decided to use _my _body as a weapon. And made me sing a song in front of Takato! I wouldn't have cared if I did it in front of Renamon, but why Takato, too?_ She furrowed her brow at the memory, then grinned as she thought of something else to type:

And tell Takato that I won't be singing to him anytime soon.

Smiling, she hit the send button, sending the letter to her grandma, telling her to "Pick me up," but not to tell anyone else about her plans, hoping to crash whatever party they had planned for her. _Call me a party pooper, but I don't want a party; I just want to get back to my old friends, doing what we used to do._

_Before that stupid letter…_

_

* * *

_

"_Rika, you've got mail," said an old woman, giving her a package._

_Curious, and fearing it was another "fan" letter from Ryo; she started to open it carefully. It was then that she noticed the return address. _UCLA? U.S.! Why would a college in the states want **me**?_ she thought._

"_Something wrong, Rika?" said a deep female voice behind her._

"_I don't know, Renamon," Rika said, opening the package. Finding the letter, she began to read:_

"'_Dear Rika Nonaka:_

"'_Your scholarship has been accepted at UCLA… A request for the classes which you want to take must be mailed by June 10th of this year…'"_

"_A scholarship! My daughter got a scholarship!"_

Oh, great. If my mom thinks that I'm going to go to this school to learn to be "fashionable" or "Lady-like," she **is** going to be disappointed, _thought Rika_.

"_So, what do you plan on doing with your scholarship?" Rika's mom, Rumiko, asked, surprising Rika and even her own mother. Rumiko, however, didn't notice the awkward silence in the room. "Well? We only have a week! What do you want to study?"_

_Rika thought about it for a long time…_

_

* * *

_

"What'ca doin'?" asked her blonde roommate, Lindsey, in her wonderfully annoying voice.

Rika groaned silently. _Of all the college students to room with… _"Nothing," Rika said curtly.

Lindsey, however, didn't get the message from her tone of voice. "It looks like you're writing an e-mail," she persisted.

_No duh._ "I'm just writing to some friends." Rika hoped this would stop Lindsey's pestering, and was rewarded: she began to read over her shoulder the message Rika was writing.

Out loud.

"'To: Takato, Henry, Jeri, Susie, Kenta, Kazu, Mom

"'Subject: Staying for a while...

"'Hi all. I've decided to stay an extra year here at the States. I'm sorry, since I know you spent all that money for the party, but I want to look around the country for a little while. Tell Renamon I love her and will be back soon. Punch Ryo for me. :P

"'And Takato, I won't be singing to you anytime soon.' Who's Takato?"

Rika could feel herself starting to tense up in anger. And… _blush?_ _Watch it Rika. You just have to endure it for a little while more. _"A friend." she gritted with barely controlled hostility.

This only brought on more questions. "A friend friend or a boyfriend?"

Rika could feel the dams beginning to burst. "Takato is a friend whom I met a long time ago!" She shouted, almost in her face. Lindsey put on her pouting expression and left the room. Rika let out a sigh as she felt her anger leave her. However, the blush seemed to get worse as she thought about Takato. Sure, she dated him for a little while. She also dated Henry and only dated Ryo once (She found him too annoying). But she had no feelings for any of them, except a very close friendship. Not to mention Takato saved her life once. Her thoughts went to a saying that says "You never know what you have until you lose it." _I haven't lost anything! …or have I?_

_What are you doing? _She mentally scolded herself._ It's time to pack, not time to think about feelings _or_ Takato!_

After sending the message, Rika shut down the computer and began to get things ready to be packed up.

_If only Renamon were here to help out…_

_

* * *

_

_Rika's cell phone rang the special ring tone that meant "Hypnos" was calling. She answered the phone, hoping it was who she wanted it to be._

"_Hello, Rika," Rika scowled. It wasn't _exactly_ whom she was expecting, but a step in the right direction._

"_Yamaki. I was waiting for Riley to call," she said, trying to keep her contempt out of her voice and sound pleased to hear from him at the same time. It was hard: A part of Rika didn't want to forget that he sent their Digimon back to the Digital World, trying to lock them there. He didn't succeed, but the fact that he tried sent shivers down her spine._

"_We both went there. I guess you could call me the official spokesman." Rika rolled her eyes. _Just tell me what I want to hear.

"_So, how did your visit go?"_ Will I be able to bring Renamon with me? If you say no…

_The answer was in his voice. "Not well. They, at first, denied their existence, then said that they were all destroyed, and now they're saying their pets," _

**Pets!**_ "The U.S. Government calls Digimon _pets_," Rika said with disgust. _

"_It gets worse," Yamaki continued. "Even if you tried to 'import' Renamon as a 'pet,' you can't." _Why not! _She thought. "It appears that Digimon are…" he paused, not wanting to anger Rika more, but he relented. "'Potentially dangerous and harmful exotic pets.' Sorry, Rika." He hung the phone up, not willing to wade through Rika's anger._

_Rika lowered her phone. _Potentially dangerous and harmful exotic **pets**._ She was about ready to throw her phone. _What sort of idiots ran the U.S. anyway!_ She had already tried getting another ticket, but the price was too much for her. She didn't know how she was going to get Renamon to the U.S. without being caught._

"_It didn't go well, did it?"_

_Giving out a frustrated sigh, Rika turned to face Renamon who had just materialized behind her. "No, it didn't," she said somberly. She could feel tears beginning to build and turned away from Renamon, shoving her cell phone into her pocket. _

"_Rika," She felt Renamon's paw on her shoulder, she looked back and could see that Renamon herself was trying to hold back tears. "Rika, I want you to know… you have been a good friend and a constant companion. But I fear that the time has come for us t-to part. At least for now."_

"_Oh, Renamon…" Rika turned around and hugged the golden fox. After a moment's hesitation, she returned the favor. Rika closed her eyes and started to cry into her fur "I'm sorry…"_

_

* * *

_

"Don't worry, I'll probably be back soon." Rika said cheerily to the blue-eyed man who gave her her suitcase from his car's trunk. The sun rising in the east caused her to think of home.

"You sure?" he grunted. _Who is this happy, bright, beautiful person in front of me? It sure isn't the dark, moody, terrifying Rika I met the first day. She doesn't even have her infamous black gloves on._

Feeling herself grinning, she decided to bait her friend. "Not really, but if I'm not, I'll write and tell you how much I miss you, Michael."

"Wow. You'll miss _me!_ I thought the only one you would miss would be your roommate." _Watch it Michael, or it is _you_ who will know the meaning of pain,_ she glared. Probably seeing how Rika was glaring at him, he decided to change the subject. "So, who do you miss the most?" he asked.

_Renamon_. "What does it matter to you?" she said a bit defensively. "They are all my friends, and I miss each one of them."

"Well, that's good to know that you will cry over all of them. I'm sure that they will be happy." Michael said before turning sideways, anticipating the punch that Rika would give him.

_The sad part about it is that it's probably true… oh why not?_ She obliged him by play-punching him on the arm. "Hey, thanks for the ride," she finally said, smiling.

"No problem. Tell your friends that I said 'hi.'" He said as he got into his car and drove away.

Rika looked at her watch and almost cursed. _I'm going to be late!_ She took her suitcase and headed towards the checkout booth. After having her baggage checked, weighed, etc… Rika was on her way to the terminal, hoping the plane hadn't left without her. She was lucky: the plane was going to be late.

The plane ended up being two hours late. While waiting for the plane, she decided to get some exercise and walk around. While doing her exercise, she noticed a strange-looking lady sitting on a chair with her arms folded around herself, wearing a brimmed hat and a big coat with a high collar. She seemed familiar to Rika, but she didn't know why. It seemed that she was sleeping, but she wasn't sure if she was taking a nap or just bored. Rika decided to drop it and continued her pacing.

Finally, after the two hours of waiting, the plane came up to their gate. _Finally, now I've just got to wait for half-an-hour more, then I can be going home…_

_

* * *

_

_Rika stood looking at the plane. It had arrived a little early, but they weren't going to leave for a while. She looked over her shoulder at everyone gathered there: Takato, Henry, Susie, Terriermon, Jeri, Lopmon, Rumiko, Ryo, and some of her other friends. _Great. Now time for the tearful goodbyes.

_Turning around to face everybody, she shook the boys' hands, hugged the girls, and shook the Digimons' ears. Jeri was the first to start crying, followed by Rumiko. Takato tried to keep his eyes dry, but didn't succeed very well. Ryo just stared at her as if he couldn't believe this was happening. Henry looked at her, smiled, and nodded, as if to say, "I'm proud of you." Susie was crying as if she wouldn't see Rika again. _And Kenta and Kazu are throwing a party now that I'm going away, _She thought bitterly. _Too bad I won't be there to crash said party.

_People started boarding the plane. Rika got in line, trying to keep the tears from falling. Feeling someone looking at her, she turned and saw Renamon. She hasn't been acting like herself since the phone call. Her eyes looked empty and devoid of life. She nodded to Rika, telling her that everything is going to be OK. Rika mouthed "Bye Renamon," to her companion, feeling wetness on her cheeks. She swallowed, and looked forward, trying to disguise the fact that she was crying._

Crying is a sign of weakness. Don't let others see that you are weak._ She told herself as she put on the black lace **(A/N: Or very thin material)** gloves she bought yesterday and let down her hair, becoming an icier Ice Queen._

"_Ticket, please," said the flight attendant. Rika dug it out of her pocket, and shoved it into his hand. He scanned and ripped the ticket and gave the stub back to her, telling her to have a great flight, despite looking at her as if she was going to rip his head off._

_She got to her window seat, sitting and looking back at the airport. As the plane took off, she had an eerie feeling that this would be the last time she would see her friends, not to mention it felt like her heart was being ripped from her chest…_

_

* * *

_

"Ticket, please."

"Hmm… oh, sorry. Here." Rika gave the flight attendant her ticket. The attendant scanned and ripped the ticket and gave the stub back to Rika. Rika then walked into the gate and onto the plane.

_Now, what to do for the remainder of the trip?_ she asked herself while she was buckling herself in. _Sleep? Sleep…_


	2. Unexpected Parties

This is the second chapter of my revised story. If you are want me to write more on _The Great Myotismon War,_ you will have to review either one of my Rika's Return stories.  
This chapter could be split into two chapters, but I'm too lazy to do it right now.

* * *

**Unexpected Parties**

"Miss? Miss. Hey you!" Somebody shouted. Rika woke with a start, her instincts wanting to kick somebody where they wouldn't forget it. "We're getting off. You coming too, or are you waiting for the next flight?"

She would normally fling some colorful curses. But for some odd reason, she was very happy, feeling whole, and not in the mood to harm anyone. When she realized where she was and why she was there, she stretched, yawned, and got up, heading towards the exit. _Note to self: don't fall asleep on any plane again._

Rika got out of the gate and began looking for the carousel that had her suitcase. Because she was one of the last people on, her luggage was the first out; it wasn't hard to find. She looked out the window and saw that it was late, or was it early?

"Rika!"

"Mom?" Rika said to herself, confused…

* * *

Rika wasn't the only one who heard Rumiko's shout. The strange lady recognized Rika's name, but stared at how much she has changed. She shook her head, thinking, _Of course, she would have changed. That's probably why I didn't recognize her. Why did I think she would be the same on her return?_ She thought. She looked around discreetly to see if anyone else was watching her, and she saw a little kid looking up at her curiously, strait into her blue eyes. She smiled at the kid. He smiled back. 

_Now, how am I going to surprise Rika?_

* * *

…_Why is she here? I told Grandma to pick me up._ When she saw her mom, she put on the best forced smile that she could manage for the moment. It was then that she noticed that her grandma, Seiko, was with her. _Did you rat on me, Grandma?_ She smiled. For some odd reason, she really didn't care. She hugged both her mom and grandma. "Welcome home, honey," said Rumiko, releasing her daughter. Looking down at her suitcase, she felt her heart sink. _Only one suitcase? I always need at least four for a decent stay._ "How long are you planning on staying?" She asked, fearing the answer. 

"A month, maybe more. Why?" Rika answered.

"Oh, no reason," she replied falsely joyful. Rika recognized this but didn't comment on it.

Rika then had the feeling that someone was watching her. She turned around and saw the strange lady looking at her. The moment that she noticed Rika was looking at her, she looked slightly over Rika's shoulder and seemed not to notice her staring. _What is with this lady? It's like I should know her, but I can't place the face._ Turning back around, she walked with her mom and grandma to the subway station.

_Well, at least this is better than when I got to America…_

* * *

_A man gently shook Rika's shoulder, trying to get her to wake up. "Wake up! Everybody's getting off! Come on… oof!" The man doubled over, being kicked in the stomach by Rika's foot._

And I was having such a great nap._ She rubbed her eyes, waking up enough to realize that everybody _was _getting off. Getting up from her seat, she hit her head on the overhead compartment. Stifling a curse, she went to the front of the plane where the exit was._

_Just then, a thought hit her in between the eyes: _Where am I going to go?_ She cursed at herself._ How could I be so stupid not to find a place to stay? I'll probably end up with a girl who paints her toenails a different color every other hour,_ she thought darkly as she walked out of the terminal. She noticed someone seemed to be waiting, holding a… _D-ark? _When she looked again, the Digivice was gone, replaced with a cell phone. _ Rika, calm down. You're clearly seeing things.

_Getting her luggage took a while, mostly because hers was near the top. She walked over to the entrance, only to find a man with black hair holding a card with her name on it. She walked over to him, not knowing what, or who, to expect._

"_You waiting for Rika Nonaka?" She asked him coolly._

"_Yeah, do you know where I could find her?" He asked, trying to be as cordial as possible. _Who is this intimidating lady?_ He stifled a shiver._

_She nodded her head yes, then asked "So, where's your car?" trying to throw him off. She succeeded._

"_Huh?" he said, confused. She let him think about it before she gave him the you're-an-idiot look. "Oh," He finally got it. "Uh, follow me," he said, moving towards the door. _

_She followed him to his car. After putting her suitcase in the back of the car, she got in. _

"_Do you know who your roommate is?" he asked_

"_No." she answered darkly, crossing her arms in front of herself. "I don't even know if I have a room."_

"_The school wondered if you would get your mail before you left: I guess you didn't. There's a copy in the back seat for you." She glared at him, waiting for him to divulge where he got the information._

_Feeling Rika's stare, he said defensively, "Look, I was called up by the school to give you your stuff: I didn't steal it."_

Uh-huh. Sure._ She didn't believe him. "So, what's your name?" She asked, changing the subject._

"_Michael McLaud,"_

* * *

The cab pulled up to Rumiko's house. After getting out of the cab, Rika and her "moms," went to the house. Rika thought it was odd that a lot of the lights were on for this time of night, but didn't think much about it. As Rumiko was unlocking the front door, she encouraged Rika to stand in front of the door…

* * *

Another cab pulled up to a house one block away from Rika's house. The strange lady got out of the cab. _I _hate_ sitting like that._ "How much do I owe you?" she asked the cabbie in her deep voice. 

"450 Yen." he said.

_Good thing I exchanged money when I was in the U.S. By the rate she was moving, I wouldn't be surprised if Rumiko is having a party for her._ She gave him the money (Too much in her opinion, but she didn't have time to argue) and thanked him for his services. As she was walking towards Rika's house, the driver noticed something _very_ strange about the lady.

_That woman has a tail!_

* * *

…Rumiko unlocked the door very slowly… Then opened the door wide as all of Rika's friends yelled "SURPRISE!" 

Forgetting how much she hated surprises, she was very exited about meeting everyone that she hadn't seen in almost two years. _Grandma, you _did_ rat on me!_ She looked over to Seiko and smiled, hugging Jeri at the same time. _Thanks, Grandma._

"Hello, princess."

Rika winced. _Did they have to invite _him "Ryo," She said curtly, getting out of Jeri's hug and turning to see him.

"She remembered me!" He hugged her. _Keep it up pretty boy, and you won't be so pretty._ Either sensing her tensing up, or deciding that a quick hug was the best for now, he let her go. "I like your hair," he commented.

"I didn't do it for you, if that's what you're wondering." She said almost disdainfully.

"It looks pretty just the same," he smirked.

Rika glared at him as if daring him to say more when she heard a very cheerful voice. "Yay! Welcome back, Rika!" _It's nice to see you too, Calumon._ Rika smiled as the white Digimon landed on her head and started messing with her hair.

As Rika was looking for the food, she noticed someone not there. _Where's Renamon?_ "Mom, where's Renamon?" Rika asked. All conversation died. Even Calumon's ears decided to hide. _Crickets, that's your cue._ Rika looked at her mom, but she decided the floor was very interesting at that point in time. "Takato?" She asked sternly as she looked at him. He looked down at his arm. "Kazu!" She threatened. He backed away, but didn't answer her, either. She felt her stomach drop a few feet. _Renamon…_ "Where's Renamon?" She shouted, worried out of her wits. _If something has happened to her…_

* * *

The strange lady got to the door just as Calumon welcomed Rika home. She took off her hat and put one of her ears to the door, trying to gauge the right time to come in. The lady then heard something that made her start: "Mom, where's Renamon?" _Why did I ever doubt she cared._ She looked at the door, then quickly put her head back to the door. She unzipped her coat, revealing nothing but yellow fur underneath the coat. _Don't worry, Rika; Renamon is closer than you know…_

* * *

Rika could feel the world around her crumbling to oblivion. _No… Renamon. _Snapping back to reality, Rika took hold of Kazu and pinned him against the nearest wall. "WHERE IS SHE?" She yelled at him. Kenta was about to help him, but one side glance from Rika told him that helping Kazu would end them both up on the wall. 

"Rika, calm down!" Henry said, placing a hand on her shoulder…

* * *

_Apparently, she cares too much. Who am I going to save: Kenta or Kazu? _The strange lady asked herself. 

She opened the door, waiting for everyone to get a good look at her…

* * *

"…It wasn't Kazu's fault!" Henry said, trying to placate Rika, but she wasn't in the mood to be talked to. She wanted to see Renamon _now_. Or to learn what happened to her and kill the ones responsible. 

At that moment, the door opened and everyone was looking at a strange lady that looked like Renamon with blush on and a coat. Rika was too busy choking Kazu to even notice the door was open, however even she noticed something was different when Kazu's eyes opened wide, but Rika wasn't sure if that was from some sort of surprise or the need for air. He started to point behind Rika, and, hoping it was Renamon, she looked. "Renamon!" she smiled, and ran towards her, letting go of Kazu. He fell to the floor and started gasping for air.

_Kazu. Why am I not surprised?_ Renamon closed the door after her, and gladly accepted the hug that Rika gave her. The hug would have lasted longer if they were alone, but because everyone was watching them, it was a quick one. Afterwards, Rika looked at Renamon and recognized that she was wearing clothes. "Trying to start a new fashion?" Rika got a good look at her as she got all of the pieces put together.

"Miss me?" Renamon, or rather, the strange lady asked.

"Only slightly," She lied, shrugging. _OF COURSE! I WAS WORRIED ABOUT YOU! _Renamon smiled, knowing Rika well enough to know she was worried out of her wits. "So, where were you? This…" she said pointing her thumb over her shoulder to Kazu, who was being helped up by Henry. "…_blockhead_ didn't know where you were, and I have a feeling that no one else did, either." She didn't look at anyone specifically, but she didn't have to.

"Uh, Rika, about the party…" Takato was quickly cut off by Rika's angry shout.

"Can it, Gogglehead!" Everybody, especially Ryo, was used to having Rika yell at them, so they knew when she was in the mood to beat up someone bad enough to warrant a visit to the hospital, or when she wasn't. _She must be _very_ angry to yell at Takato like that._ Ryo thought. _And I would probably have my lunch on the floor if I even uttered a syllable._ Apparently realizing how rude she was being, she changed her attitude and started being a bit more civil. Turning to look at Renamon, she asked as calmly as possible: "So, what were you doing in America, Renamon?"

"I was looking for you," She replied in her normal tone of voice. "Unfortunately, I never found you until after you got home." Rika could tell that Renamon was smiling.

Rika and Renamon were interrupted from their reunion by multiple cell phones going off. Even Susie reached for her cell phone. Rika glared at them. _Boy, are they lacking in manners._ They all listened for a while, then looked like they saw Leomon's ghost.

"Susie, Lopmon, you two stay here," ordered Henry sternly as he shut his phone. Susie looked like she was about to pout, but just looking at her older brother told her that no amount of pouting would get her to come with him.

"Uh, Rika, Renamon, I think you should come with us," Takato said nervously, fearing his head would be separated from his body.

Rika could feel the adrenaline beginning to flow through her body. "A Digimon?" she asked, looking at him. It was at that moment that she realized that he didn't have his famous goggles on his head.

Ryo answered her: "Yes, and a strong one, too. Maybe even a Mega." Rika's raised her eyebrows a few centimeters. _Wow, He's actually being serious. Must be something very powerful to rattle Ryo._

"Got it. Renamon?" she asked, looking for her, only to find her eating some food very quickly. _And I thought I was hungry…_

It took a while for Renamon to get enough food swallowed to where she could talk. "Sorry, Rika. I haven't eaten decent food in a long time."

"Don't worry. I haven't eaten in a while, either." She said, smiling.

"Come on! We have to go! It's very, _very_ close!" shouted Henry. _Must be _very_ strong to rattle Henry…_

They all heard the sound of something crashing outside. Rika glared at Ryo. _How close, Pretty Boy?_

"Come on!" Takato yelled, running to the door.

Everybody ran outside, only to see a huge insectoid Digimon in the process of demolishing the house across the street. It looked like a Kabuterimon, except for the fact that it was bigger and had a yellow shell, with three horns making a curvy "W." Pulling out her D-ark, Rika began getting info about the Digimon: "Let's see: 'Hercules­Kabuterimon: Insectoid Digimon. Mega! Main attacks are Giga Scissor Claw and… Mega Electro Shocker,'" she read, letting the D-ark slowly drop to her side. Hercules­Kabuterimon, noticing her gaze, decided to take things to the air. Lifting the shell that concealed the wings, he began to beat them furiously to begin his ascent.

"Come on, guys! Let's do it!" Takato shouted, as he pointed he D-ark to his front, with Guilmon behind him. Rika noticed that all the rest of the tamers that could Biomerge were ready. _Except maybe hungry me,_ she thought sourly as she heard her stomach growl. Relenting, she also got her D-ark ready for the Biomerge. _This is gonna be a fight to remember._

The Tamers all called out, "Biomerge activate" joining with their Digimon.

Henry, Takato, Rika, and Ryo all Biomerged with their partner Digimon: Terriermon, Guilmon, Renamon, and Cyberdramon, respectively, to make MegaGargomon, Gallantmon, Sakuyamon, and Justimon.

_It's been so long._ Rika thought. _I have forgotten how this feels. Then again, the last time I did this was, what, seven or eight years ago?_

Apparently HerculesKabuterimon wasn't expecting Rika. _Why the heck is he staring at me?_ She asked herself.

"Uh… Sakuyamon? Have you two met before?" Takato asked, looking up at Hercules­Kabuterimon, who was hugging himself with all four of his arms. For some odd reason, Takato wasn't comfortable with how that looked.

Rika glared at Gallantmon. "Of course we haven't met," she gritted. "Do you think I would be here in a fighting stance if I knew him? I would be going 'Hi, Hercules­Kabuterimon, how's it going? Having a nice time? Long time no see.'" She said peevishly, then got thoughtful. "It is a bit strange that he _is… Look out!_" She dove out of the way as a burst of electricity formed in front of Hercules­Kabuterimon's arms, aimed right at her. _And I came home for this?_ Rika thought sourly as Sakuyamon got up. The blast from Hercules­Kabuterimon's Mega Electro Shocker left a good size hole in the middle of the road.

Thinking fast, Takato made a decision, one he later hoped he wouldn't regret. "Okay, let's split up. Mega­Gargomon with me; Justimon, you go…" _What was I thinking?_ "with Sakuyamon." _Don't kill me, Rika,_ he flinched. "Let's try to flank him."

Rika looked at Gallantmon, thinking how funny his words would have been had they been said any other time. _That was dumb of you, Takato. What were you thinking? You know I'll kill Ryo, and maybe even _you Nevertheless, both Sakuyamon and Justimon followed the orders given to them.

This somehow confused HerculesKabuterimon, but Rika couldn't understand why. _If he was concentrating on me, why would he be confused by me being with pretty boy? Why not attack me now?_ Apparently getting really confused, Hercules­Kabuterimon decided that enough was enough: he started to fly away. "Oh, no you don't!" Rika and Renamon shouted and started to follow him.

"Sakuyamon!" MegaGargomon and Gallantmon shouted. Recognizing that there was a target that could be singled out, Hercules­Kabuterimon turned around and was about to slice Sakuyamon into ribbons if it wasn't for her companions.

"Giga…" HerculesKabuterimon began in his hoarse voice, but was cut off by three others.

"Shield of the Just!" Gallantmon shouted, pointing his shield at Hercules­Kabuterimon, making the four triangular-like beams hit him close to his head.

"Justice Burst!" Justimon shouted, shooting blasts of energy at the big bug.

"Gargo Barrage!" MegaGargomon shouted, unleashing his entire arsenal on Hercules­Kabuterimon.

Sakuyamon was lucky not to get hit by a stray missile: she was just a tad too close to Hercules­Kabuterimon. _If you hit me… _"Ah!" _That was too close!_ "Mega­Gargomon!…"

_THUD!_

"That must've hurt!" _Good ol' Terriermon._ Rika smirked, shaking her head. _He never changes._

"Terriermon!" Henry said in a reprimanding, if slightly resigned, tone.

"What?"

Landing on the ground, Sakuyamon walked over to Hercules­Kabuterimon and placed her staff threateningly close to where his neck would have been. "How do you know me?" Rika snapped.

"Rika's s-supposed… t-to be… dead!" he screamed as his data dispersed. Rika could swear that the whole world was staring at her as if she was a ghost. _I wonder why he thought that. It's not that the plane crashed when I was asleep,_ she thought half-jokingly as the Biomerged Digimon split up. Hearing her stomach growl again, she decided it was time to get something to eat and started walking to her home. She felt seven pair of very intent eyes staring at her back. Starting to get uncomfortable, she turned around and asked "Hey! You guys coming or not?" she called out over her shoulder.

"Rika," Renamon said, appearing by her left shoulder. It would have startled anyone else, but Rika was used to it. "What did Hercules­Kabuterimon mean when he said that you're supposed to be dead?" Renamon asked, worried.

"I don't know." she shrugged nonchalantly, inwardly fighting to control her fear. _It's alright. He just said that to rattle me. I'm OK. I'm going to be OK._

Walking past everybody that was standing by the door, she got in and started getting food to eat. _There's no way I'm going to let this rattle me._

"That was quick. So, who was it?" Susie asked Rika.

"It was a HerculesKabuterimon, a Mega form of a Kabuterimon," she answered. Her tone made Susie curious as to why she had ventured that much information, but she knew that Rika wasn't one who answered questions about herself to people she didn't know, and right now, Susie didn't consider herself a close friend.

"Rika!" Rumiko cried as she entered in her house, running to Rika and hugging her forcefully._ Mom, if you start to…_ Rumiko started to cry. Rika looked over her mom's shoulder and looked at her grandmother. She also looked close to tears. Feeling herself starting to water up, she tried to reassure them all: "I'm Okay, I'm Okay, mom," she said, hugging her back.

While they were hugging, the rest of the Tamers and their Digimon walked into the house, still with a haunted look in their eyes.

Susie, curious, went over to her brother, tapped him on his shoulder, and whispered into his ear "What is going on?" Henry didn't answer, but looked back at Rika.

It was Ryo that broke the silence: "So princess, what are you going to do: Come back among the living, or weep over your death?"

The room got silent again, not because there was someone missing, but because they were expecting Rika's fury to kill Ryo then have her physically throttle what was left of him to oblivion.

Rika's glare would have made lead boil. She smiled without warmth at him. "Ryo, I'm sure you would be happy to join me." She let go of her shocked mother to look Ryo strait in the eye.

Suspecting what Rika was thinking and not liking it, he still asked "Join you where?" with a nonchalant shrug.

Takato also apparently knew where she was going and was just as nervous as Ryo, but he showed it. "Uhh… I don't think you want to know."

"Rika, I think you need to calm down," Henry said, stepping forward. _Always the peacekeeper, aren't you?_ "I think that whatever was planned for you didn't work out."

"Ah, who knows?" Kazu commented, flinching a little when Rika looked at him. "Maybe the Digimon that was supposed to get you was destroyed by Renamon."

"Yeah, or an American Tamer." Kenta added.

"And maybe that same someone sent me that stupid letter to go to College." Rika added darkly.

"Rika!" Renamon breathed, shocked. Since when did her Tamer decide to hate the scholarship letter and/or America?

Rika, still in a dark mood, decided to sit down for a while. After brooding for a few minutes, she heard snores coming from someone. That someone turned out to be Terriermon. Looking at everyone else, she could tell that they were all sleepy. "Perhaps we should all go to bed," she said, rubbing her eyes for emphasis. She herslef wasn't that tired, but she was certain that everyone else was. For some of the Tamers, it took a while for the light to click; they were that sleepy.

"Yeah, better catch a cab. I don't think I can drive right now," said Henry, rubbing his eyes, vainly trying to stay awake.

* * *

After calling a cab service, the rest of the Tamers left Rika's house, leaving Rika, Renamon, Rumiko, and Seiko to the house. Rumiko and her mom instantly went to bed, but Rika wasn't tired. Instead, she decided to listen to the messages on her phone. Selecting the "Play all" option, she listened to them: 

"Message one:" The computerized voice said

"Uh, hi Rika. Th-This is Takato. I'm just calling to tell you… Huh, what?" Pause. Kazu saying something. "Shut up, Kazu! I won't say that: She'll kill me! Anyway, we're planning a little surprise party for you when you get back… Hey!"

"Takato loves you!" Kazu said very loudly and obnoxiously into the phone. Rika could feel herself blushing.

"Kazu… Give … back!"

"Not until you agree to say 'I love you, Rika,'" _Boys. Huh! Typical._ She could barely hear Kazu and Takato, probably because he was playing keep-away with the phone.

Takato sounded like he said, "Yeah, yeah, just give me the phone," and his voice was very loud, as if his mouth was very close to the receiver. "Hi, Rika… Uhhhh, I love you. _As a friend_." Rika could hear Kazu and some of his friends complaining on how he botched it. Rika smirked; delighted to know that Kazu's plan backfired.

"Aww, man!" Kazu groaned, "You-" _Beep._

"End of message one." _That was embarrassing._ "Message two:"

"Hi, Rika!" She winced and groaned. _What are you calling about now?_ "This is Lindsey, your roommate. I'm calling because you missed your computer. How are you going to E-mail me?" Pause. "Rika?" Another pause. "Are you there? Oh!" She laughed her annoying ditzy laugh. "Silly me! This must be your cell phone's answering machi-" _Beeeeeeeeeeep._

"Message two erased." _Who's more annoying: Pretty Boy or Lindsey?_ "Message three:"

"Hi, Rika. This is Michael. Just checking to see if you made it home safely. Call when you can. Bye." _Beep._

"End of Message three. Message four:"

"Uh, Rika, this is Michael. Are you… Okay? I just got a very bad feeling that you were in trouble. Call back as soon as you can," _Beep._

"End of message four." _Beep._ "End of messages."

_That was odd. I wonder when he had that strange feeling,_ she thought to herself as she called Michael's phone…

* * *

"Uh, we have a problem," said a woman's voice. 

"What now. Where and how strong?" asked an irritated voice that came from a black-haired man.

"The 'where' is the problem: we don't know. How strong: Rookie. She's no longer on our scanners."

"She?" he said confused. It didn't take him long to connect the dots. "Crap! Where did she go!"

"Don't know, Mikey."

He slumped into a nearby chair. "Her Tamer is going to kill me," he groaned.

"That's if Mr. Robinson doesn't get you first," she added, speaking into his ear.

His blue eyes got very wide. Turning his chair around, he looked into her blue eyes. "He wouldn't! He doesn't even know about it…"

"Know about what?" said a commanding voice.

Turning his chair sideways, he looked over at their boss. "Oh, nothing. We were just discussing… the weather…"

"You were talking about the tame Digimon without the Tamer," he stated. Mikey didn't look into Mr. Robinson's eyes. _I knew it,_ "Where was she last seen? Alisha." he ordered, looking at the woman.

"I was looking at the Airport's security tapes," said the lady. "For some odd reason, I can't find… Wait!" she said abruptly, kind of recognizing something, going back and forth between two points. She smiled. "You sly fox. She's going incognito."

"What flight?" Mr. Robinson asked.

It didn't take long for her to follow the Digimon to where she could identify which flight she had taken. "Flight 183: Los Angeles to Tokyo…"

"Rika!" Everyone looked at him, but he was saved from further embarrassment by a phone ringing.

_Rrrring._

It took a moment before Mikey realized it was his cell phone ringing.

_Rrrring._

* * *

_Beeep. Beeep._

_Michael, answer your stupid phone!_

"Something wrong, Rika?" Renamon asked, materializing from the shadows.

"Don't think so, but I'm just being careful." Rika answered.

_Eight… Nine… Ten- where are you!_

"Yeah, what?" said a distracted voice.

"My, aren't you in a good mood, Michael? Did I wake you?" she asked sarcastically, a little surprised by his answer.

_Michael? _Renamon looked at her Tamer. _How does she know Michael?_ Renamon got close enough to the phone to hear what was going on.

"No, I'm just having a bad day at work today." he answered tiredly.

"Did you miss me?" Renamon said, loud enough to be picked up by the receiver.

"Renamon!" Rika said, shocked, covering the receiver end of her cell phone. Renamon was only known to her closest friends, and Mikey might be a friend, but he's not _that_ close.

* * *

"'Renamon'?" Michael repeated, dumbfounded. _How would Rika know Renamon?_ Their first meeting didn't start at the best of terms. _What if Rika is a Tamer?_

He then remembered something that Rika did when there was a Digimon convention: she dressed up as a Renamon, mainly because you were supposed to dress up as your favorite Digimon. The needed pieces started clicking into place: Rika's happy mood when she was going home, Renamon, Rika's usually sour and sometimes dark mood, etc…

"I'm just calling to say that I'm fine. No need to worry about me." Rika said in her bug-me-and-die tone of voice.

"Wait! I'm a Tamer, too," he called out, hoping she wasn't about to hang up and didn't hear.

Silence greeted him. From both ends.

"Mind repeating that, flyboy," she finally requested, her tone making it clear she wasn't happy about it.

"Don't worry; I'm a Tamer, like you. Why didn't you bring Renamon with you?" he asked.

"Because 'Potentially dangerous and harmful exotic pets.' wouldn't be allowed without an expensive license." Even though it was an old issue, it still was a cause of extreme irritation for her, which Renamon noticed by the sound of a plastic device being squeezed a little too tightly.

"'Dangerous and harmful pets'? Where did you get that idea?" Michael asked, confused. _Where _did_ she get that strange idea?_

"Yamaki went over to the U.S. to arrange me getting Renamon taken over, but the person he met said that they were pets," she said with thinly veiled contempt.

"One moment," he asked Rika. Covering the receiver, he turned to his boss, "Mr. Robinson, did you meet anyone named Yamaki?" Mr. Robinson shook his head no. "Has any one of your friends mentioned meeting someone named Yamaki?"

Mr. Robinson shook his head and said "No."

"Well, Rika, whomever he met wasn't part of the government. Did Yamaki say who he met?"

Rika was not in a good mood, and just a little bit hungry. When she was in a bad mood, she didn't necessarily think strait. "No, and I doubt that I will ask him in the near future." she said with a quiet murderous tone, turning off the phone before Michael could think of something to say.

She looked for Renamon, feeling the need to vent, but she had gone back to the shadows. Getting frustrated, she decided to take a little trip to the kitchen and make a proper dinner, even if she had to make Mac and Cheese.


	3. Dark Stories and Intentions

A wolf-like humanoid Digimon walked into a dark room and approached a throne and kneeled with his left leg supporting his body, bowing his head down, he waited for his master to acknowledge him. When he did, he looked at his master and began to speak. "We have a problem," he grated.

"What is it?" said a deep voice.

The wolf shivered, despite the room being a bit too warm. His master had a way of doing that to Digimon. "Hercules­Kabuterimon started to destroy the wrong house," he said, not sure how to put the remainder of his report.

"HerculesKabuterimon wasn't hired for his wits. You said 'started.' And you didn't mention the deceased red-head's house," The Wolf shivered again. His master also had ways of looking through lies.

"It appears my younger brother didn't exactly get things done with her." he winced, waiting for his master to kill him.

"And Rika returned home, did she? And her friends threw a party in her honor. And we were unlucky enough to send Hercules­Kabuterimon the same night. Hmm. If the situation wasn't that serious, I think it would be rather amusing." The wolf remained silent. The thought that his master might have a sense of humor sent his blood on a chilling spree! "Still, we must go forward with the plan, with or without these wrinkles."

The wolf's eyes bulged out of their sockets. "B-b-but I thought…"

The wolf could feel his Master's eyes on him, and promptly shut up. "You truly know nothing. Rika's death would have helped our plan, but she could still be of some use to us."

_I thought you said she was stronger than her own good._ Thought wolfie.

"She _is_ strong. If we can use that strength to our advantage, however…" Their was a hint of a smile to the Master's voice, which gave Wolfie large goosebumps and uncontrollable shivering. The fact that he read his mind didn't help matters, either.

"What is thy bidding?" he finally asked, wishing he could cuddle into his favorite blankie.

"Nothing, at the moment. We shall wait for her to put all the pieces together, then approach her. You are dismissed," the Master said, dismissing him with a gesture.

Wolfie bowed to his master, then got up and walked out of the presence of his master. After closing the door behind him, he almost ran outside. _Why did my ancestors have to swear allegiance to him? Why?_

* * *

Rika woke up with a start. She was in her bed. _How did I get in my… Renamon._ She smiled. _I must have fallen asleep sitting against the wall._ Getting up and stretching, she yawned and swung out her legs… only to realize she didn't need to. _Stupid raised beds! I don't know why Americans like them so much._ She looked for her alarm clock, but couldn't find it. _Of course! It's still at the stupid school._ Getting up, she went to her door and opened it, almost walking into a makeup- and coat-less Renamon. "Good morning!" Rika said, startled. 

"Rika, we need to talk." Renamon said.

"What's this about? Have you found a new tamer?" Rika smiled jokingly, more or less forgetting last night's phone call.

"No; I think it's more serious than that. I think a Digimon might be having plans to take over the real world." Renamon said, dead serious.

"What do you mean?" Rika asked, a little scared. This is the things that only happened in the movies. Except the Parasimon incident, there hasn't been one Digimon with thoughts on world domination. Renamon came into her room and sat Indian-style on the floor and Rika knelt beside her.

Closing her eyes, Renamon began her tale: "It was just about three months ago…"

* * *

…_And I was on campus still looking for you. I don't know why I couldn't find you; it seemed, to me, that you were trying to shut yourself off from me. I didn't understand it. I still don't understand it. There was a Digimon close by that was bio-emerging. I went over to the area, hoping I could take care of it._

_It ended up being a Garurumon, but he seemed… different, somehow; Strange. He looked at me as if I didn't belong there. He then glared at me and said "Who dares defy the will of the Dark Sovereign?"_

"Dark Sovereign? I thought there was only four" Rika commented.

"_Dark Sovereign?" I said. "There is no such Digimon. I have spoken with all of the sovereigns and know each one, and _none_ consider themselves the Dark Sovereign."_

_Garurumon just laughed and said "Your insolence and ignorance will be the death of you and your parter." He seemed to be gathering energy to him, but it was… dark. When I looked at him again, he was twice as big and had an evil glint to his eyes, and his normally white fur was a bit grayish._

_His appearance and his aura made me remember a myth I once heard. It involved a very dark Digimon delving into dark arts, trying to become one of the Sovereigns. The Sovereigns, noticing what was going on, stopped this Digimon before he could do any serious damage. I can't remember the name, and if I remember correctly, there are many variations to the tale, with the Digimon being a Rookie to a Mega; from being weak enough that Impmon could beat him, to a rival of the Sovereigns' power. The same thing could be said about him that was happening to Garurumon; They looked like they had a dark look to them, and radiated a dark aura._

"Did you…" Rika swallowed, fearing that her partner got hurt "fight him?"

_One thing at a time, Rika. I had a very bad feeling that I could only beat them if I was Kyubimon. However, I didn't know where your classes were, so I couldn't ask you for your help. Rika, it's Okay. I don't have any hard feelings about this. Seiko said that your education was important. I was, however, willing to stop Garurumon from harming anyone, especially you. I had a feeling that you were the target._

"Probably because he mentioned 'Your tamer'" Rika mumbled

_Actually, I said, 'Partner,' but yes, he did say 'Tamer.' He charged at me at an alarming speed: I barely had the time to roll out of the way. He charged straight after I landed, I again barely had enough time to get out of the way. I immediately jumped into the air, getting ready to attack. I was hit by Garurumon's "Howling blaster" attack on my chest. The attack was stronger than anything I was expecting. It felt like a sledgehammer had hit a chunk of pointed ice into my body: It was that cold and forceful._

Rika touched the place on her middle sternum, the same place Renamon was touching herself. "So that's why I felt pain there that one day."

_I felt myself going beyond; I knew I was dying, that only a miracle could save me. My only regret was that I didn't see you before going. Then, Garurumon's attack stopped. When I was able to look up, I saw Michael and Alisha– you haven't met Alisha yet, have you?– with their partners: SaberLeomon and Pixiemon. I had met them before-_

"But you didn't say the name of your tamer." Rika stated a little darkly. _You could have been with me earlier! Why didn't you say my name._ She asked silently.

_I didn't know what they would do when they found out whose partner I was. Rika, I didn't want to get you into trouble. However, last night's phone call does bring to suspicion as to how true Yamaki's contact and information were. _

_But I digress. Michael and Alisha were there to stop a Bio-emerging Digimon. Apparently, from what they said, they had a good battle. They said that whatever Garurumon did increased his strength dramatically. When they analyzed the data they collected with their Digivices, they found that he was a virus type: Most Garurumon are data. They think that the thing that gave Garurumon his extra energy was some form of a virus that modified him._

Rika got out her digivice and looked up Hercules­Kabuterimon. It was listed under "Vaccine." _So the guy I fought didn't have this thing in him. That's a relief._

_And thus concludes my story._

* * *

"It's time to eat" Renamon stated, opening her eyes and getting out of the sitting position she was in and walking to the door. She opened the door, waiting for Rika to join her. 

"Renamon," Rika said "when did you meet Michael? And when did you get to the U.S.? And _how_ did you get to the U.S.?" All Renamon did was stand there, looking at the wall and saying something about talking about it later. "Renamon," she said with just a touch of sternness.

Renamon was about to disappear but thought better of it. _If I disappear without answering her questions, she won't talk to me for a long time._ Sighing in resignation she bowed her head and closed her eyes. Renamon decided to give Rika the answers to her questions: "The day I got to the U.S.; a month after you left; and Seiko lent me some money." Renamon waited for Rika to decipher what she was just told.

It didn't take long. "Renamon!" Rika shouted, shocked. "Did you…!"

"I did not steal anything. I merely asked her for some money for a 'present.'"

"And that present was supposed to be you," Rika surmised, getting up and walking to the door. "Did grandma know?"

"I believe she guessed what I had in mind, because she gave me more than I asked for: more than enough for two flights, at least. She then said-"

"'Make the gift a special one.'" Said Seiko, startling Rika and Renamon. "Well, are you going to eat breakfast, or was your meal you had last night enough to tide you over until lunch?"

Rika smiled, looking past Renamon where Seiko was waiting. "Sorry, grandma. I just wanted to know how Renamon was doing." Seiko smiled, perfectly knowing what they were doing: telling each other stories.

"That's alright, dear. Why don't you two come for breakfast? Your mom made it."

_Great. Wonder what we're having: Toasted French toast or fried pancakes?_ Rika looked at Renamon and was surprised to see a look of… shock on her face.

"Rumiko made breakfast?" Renamon asked, confused and surprised. It almost tasted too good to be made by her. Almost.

Seiko smiled. "She's been improving her cooking ever since you left. Her food is even passable to my cooking on my worst days." Turning around, she started walking to the dining room. Rika shrugged and followed her grandma. Renamon was about to follow, but noticed that Rika left her cell phone in her room. She picked it up it up and it started ringing. _What do I do? Give it to Rika._ Mentally cursing her mental block, she left the room and began to catch up to Rika.

"One moment, grandma." Rika said, turning around to get her cell phone. She stopped when she saw Renamon come out of her room. "Renamon?" Rika took the phone, looking at Renamon, wondering why did she get the phone. The three continued their journey to the dining room with Rika talking on the phone. The caller ended up being Kazu, of all people.

"Uh, hi Rika. Uhhhh, have you checked your messages?"

Rika opened her mouth, about to ask why he cared, but thought of a better thing to say: "No, I haven't. Mind asking me why I should?" she asked coldly.

"Uh- heh, there's a message there from Takato that you might find… interesting." he ventured.

"Mind telling me what it's all about?" asked Rika, noticing she was getting close to the dining room.

"Uh, no, I really think you should…"

"Just spare me the time and tell me what it says!" she demanded.

Pause. "You listened to it, didn't you? You just want to beat me up! Well, I won't take the bait, even if the message says 'I love you–'" Kazu stopped abruptly, realizing what he said and to whom.

Rika smiled, knowing he was cornered. "Mind repeating that?" she said in her normal tone, which was a bit too icy and emotionless for most people.

"Uh, n-no–"

"Because you know if you don't tell, I'll beat it out of you. Is this the only reason you called, or do you have something important to say?" She asked, smelling the delicious food. When Kazu continued to stutter, she gave her phone to Renamon, asking her to wait for the idiot to deliver his message. Renamon accepted the phone (She had already ate enough to sate her for the morning), and put it close enough to her ear as was possible and still be able to get her input.

It took a good ten minutes for Kazu to calm down enough to say that Yamaki wanted to talk with her. Having finished eating, Rika was talking about her experiences in college to her grandma and mom.

"…And this guy, the same guy that picked me up at the airport, looks at me and says 'You're the Digimon Queen?' as if he didn't recognize me at the airport. The expression on his face: Priceless. I don't know what to call it: a mix between shock, awe, adoration, respect… It wasn't until two weeks after the party that he could talk to me without stuttering like a loon. Anyways, his look-alike girlfriend comes up to him and says 'Mikey, It's not nice to stare,' while she pulls him by the ear away from me."

"He then got extremely reprimanded by his sister," Renamon added, remembering the story.

Rika blinked. "How do you know about this, Renamon? Did Michael tell you?" she asked a little bit darkly.

"No, I learned it from Alisha, his sister. She just told me that he was 'ogling a supermodel wannabe.'" Renamon smiled.

"She thinks I'm a supermodel wannabe?" she asked, silently vehement. _When I get my hands on her…_

Rika's tone wiped Renamon's smile from her face. "It's frightening how similar Alisha and Michael Mclaud look." Renamon noted, avoiding the question.

Rika thought about it, then asked "Black hair, a bit tan, blue eyes, about the same hight as Michael?" Renamon nodded. "Twin?" Renamon shook her head. "I'm surprised we weren't introduced to each other. So tell me," Rika said, the conversation away from the painful memories of college. "what did Dumb want?"

"He said that Yamaki wants to talk to you."

Rika glowered at the wall. "How does he know I'm here?" she gritted.

Rumiko looked at her watch and got up. "Oh dear, it's time for me to leave. Bye, hunny," she said, walking over to Rika and hugged her. It took a second for Rika to hug her back. After disengaging from the hug, Rumiko ran to the door and outside. Seiko began clearing the table, letting Rika and Renamon talk.

"I don't know." Renamon finally said. "Perhaps you could ask him." Renamon added, smiling and giving her the cell phone. Rika accepted it and dialed the number that she remembered as being Hypnos's phone number. She was surprised to find someone she knew on the other end.

"Hello, Yamaki's office. Hen-"

"Henry?"

"Rika! Uh, did Yamaki call you?"

"No, some idiot who goes by Kazu called and said that Yamaki wanted to talk to me."

"Did he mention anything else?" He asked hesitantly.

"Why do you ask?" she questioned coolly.

"No reason. Yamaki isn't here today. I can give you his home phone number."

_Yamaki's not there? I'm surprised. It's not like to to be off work. _"O.K. One- oh, thanks Renamon." she took the pen and paper that Renamon gave her. "I'm ready." Henry told her Yamaki's home number. Rika verified that she heard the number correctly, then asked a question that was bugging her ever since Henry answered the phone: "When did you start to work for Hypnos?"

There was silence on the other end. "Well?" she finally demanded.

"As part of my grant to go to college, I get to work at Hypnos part-time."

"That's nice." she said dryly. "When do you think the others will be off of their work? I want to meet everyone again. It's been a long time since I saw them last, and last night wasn't the best meeting."

"I think that tomorrow everyone but Ryo has the day off. We could then, if you don't mind Ryo's absence. Where do you plan on going?"

"Guilmon's hideout." she said. _I bet everybody knows where that is._

"Uh, that might be a bit of a problem. It's sort of turned into a museum. You would be amazed at how many people come over in a day to look at the old hideout. Why don't we meet at your house? Will that be OK?"

"I'll check." she said, smiling. Putting her hand on the receiver, she called out to her grandma and asked "Is it alright if Henry, Takato, and the rest meet up with me here tomorrow?"

"Yes dear, it's fine with me" answered Seiko.

Rika smiled her thanks to her grandma and went back to the phone. "Yeah, you can come here." She looked at her watch and was confused until she realized that it was still on California time. "I need to call Yamaki. Bye."

"Bye" _Beep._

She dialed Yamaki's home number, expecting for him to pick up. He didn't. Her call was answered by an answering machine. She was further surprised by whose voice was used to make the recording.

"Hello, You have reached Riley and Mitsuo Yamaki's residence. Sorry that we couldn't come to the phone, but we would like to-"

"Hello?" said the voice of Yamaki, panting.

"Yamaki," Rika said simply. "Kazu said that you wanted to talk to me."

Yamaki smiled. "That's right: Riley just had a baby boy."

Rika smiled with him. "Congrats. May he be as stubborn and hardworking as his father." She heard Yamaki chuckle. "So, when did you and Riley get married?"

"Five years ago." he said, confused. _Her mom didn't tell her? Our marriage was in the newspaper._ "We didn't exactly want two specific Tamers coming to the reception: We, uh, feared that they might cause chaos if let loose."

Rika nodded, knowing perfectly well whom he was talking about. "Yeah, I know who you mean. Kenta's not that bad by himself, but Kenta and Kazu: bad mix." She thought about what would happen if Kenta was invited and not Kazu, and frowned. "But if you only invite Kenta, he would tell Kazu about it and invite him himself…"

"And Takato would invite both, and Henry would invite Takato… It was safer not to invite any of the tamers. No offense."

"None taken. So how did you know I was coming over? I more or less told everyone but my grandma that I was staying."

Yamaki smirked "I think you forgot to tell me about your plans. I merely assumed you would be coming home soon after graduating."

"Speaking of college: it seems that one of my American friends is a Tamer, and _he _said that Digimon weren't listed as pets. I just learned this last night when I called him."

"Was this person's name Timothy Robinson?"

"No. His name was Michael McLaud, though it sounded like he did work for Robinson. Do you mind telling me a little about him?"

"Robinson? He seemed ancy. Not sure of himself, loud, and annoying."

"Sounds like my roommate," She muttered.

Silence. "I guess I could always call and find out why he said those things. It seemed as if he didn't want your Digimon over there."

Rika was silent for a while, then said "It has been a pleasure talking to you. Uh, I need to make another call, so… bye." _beep_. Rika glared at the phone. _Somehow I doubt that he only seemed to want Renamon here: He probably _wanted_ Renamon to stay._ The phone started ringing. She recognized the number as Michael's.

Yamaki looked at the phone, turned it off, and set it back on the charger, surprised._ That was the most civil conversation that I had with her for a long time._

_

* * *

_I'll want 10 reviews total in order to continue the story here.


	4. The Final Pieces

_I'm spending too much time on the phone,_ She thought as she answered her phone. "What is it?" she asked.

"Nice to talk to you, too," Michael answered. "Listen, we need to talk. It appears we have a leak. The same day that Mitsuo came-"

"Yamaki"

"Well, anyways, the same day that he came over, Robinson had the day off, but he still showed up. However, he wasn't himself that day. For one, he was agitated; two, he yelled a lot. The next day, he was himself again, so we didn't question… what? Alisha, not now! What?" he sighed "One minute, Rika."

He set his phone down and walked over to his sister. Rika couldn't hear what they were saying, and will be forever grateful for it.

After three minutes of debate, he picked his phone up. "Apparently, Robinson's strange mood wasn't the only thing that was against you. The college just called, saying that your scholarship form was invalid." Rika began to crush her phone. "They said that you can keep the diploma, but if you wanted to continue your education there, you would have to pay five thousand dollars, as well as the future classes."

"Are you accusing me of sending in false information?" she asked angrily, enough that Renamon visibly tensed up. _I might go five over the speed limit, but send in false information?_

"No! I'm just saying someone– not you, of course– sent in an invalid form _that got through._ I don't understand it either, but the college is trying to find the person who did it."

"So I could have stayed here and got a diploma, but because I got a scholarship, I decided to go to the States." She was almost snarling into the phone. Renamon was still a bit confused as to why Rika didn't like the college.

His response was very timid. "Yeah, I guess-" _Beep._ Rika ended the call. She then uttered some very unladylike curses, directed at no one in particular.

_Ding-dong._

Resisting the urge to utterly decimate her phone and the doorbell, she got up and answered the door. It ended up being Ryo.

Ryo knew from Rika's glare that he hadn't arrived at a good time, but he was determined to get his thoughts off his shoulders. "Hi Rika. Uh, did I come at a bad time?" he asked soberly.

"Yes." she answered curtly, still angry from the phone call. She was _not_ in the mood to spar with him today.

"Rika, I need to talk to you. Alone." Ryo said in the same sober manner. _Why won't you smirk, Pretty Boy?_

"Who are you, and what have you done with Akiyama?" She asked sternly.

Ryo smiled at this, but it was a sad smile. "Surely even you know who I am, Rika." His tone was _still_ that same sober tone, not the joking tone that Rika was used to.

Ryo's use of her name made Rika stop and think for a moment. _What's wrong with you _now_? If you say "I missed you," I'm going to punch you in the face. Hard._ "What did I do?" she asked, slightly exasperated.

"Uh, mind if we go in your room?" he asked, leaning closer to Rika as if to impart a secret. "What I have to say is a bit private."

"Sure," she said in an almost rude way. "Follow me." Rika turned around and started walking to her room.

"Oh, hello Ryo" said Seiko, walking out of the kitchen.

"Hello Mrs. Hata." He smiled and nodded at her.

"Ryo…" Rika started.

"Sorry Mrs. Hata, but Rika and I need a little talk, and based on Rika's current mood…"

Rika turned around and glared murderously at him. Taking the hint, he shut up and followed her to her room. Rika opened the door and walked in, followed by Ryo. She was leaning against a wall, still glowering. Ryo shut the door and sat down on the floor, looking at the floor, trying to sort out his thoughts so that they didn't sound pathetic or stupid. It took him a while before he began.

"Rika-" he started tenderly.

"Ryo-" she demanded sternly at the same time that Ryo started. Ryo blushed. Rika just glared at him. _What _is _wrong with him? Did he get dumped by his girlfriend?_ She wondered, but didn't want to interrupt him. She was still a little miffed by the call, but she didn't exactly know why.

"Rika," he continued "I missed you when you were gone. A lot. It felt-" he hesitated, not sure he should say it with her current mood. _So what if she beats me up? She's still a friend. She needs to hear this._ "When you left… it felt- it felt as if my heart was being ripped out and stabbed repeatedly. I-I didn't have the same energy. I was always sad, biting people's heads off whenever I thought about you being away. Which was a lot. When I read that you were going to stay a little while longer, I could swear that I almost died with dread, but when Mrs. Hata called and said that she was planning a special party for you, I almost died with joy." Rika blinked, still scowling, waiting for Ryo to continue. _This almost sounds like me when I was at college. Almost._ "I don't know how to say this next part, but I'll try: I guess what I'm trying to say is that I have feelings for you that go beyond basic friendship." Rika rolled her eyes. _Typical. And I thought it was something important._

"So," she said, causing Ryo to look at her. "You want to go on another date with me." she stated. His smile actually had a little more warmth in it.

"Yes, I would. That is, if you're OK with it." he added sullenly, fearing her response.

A part of her felt a bit of pity for him, because she said "Come back in a few days, then we can talk about dating." she turned her head so that it faced a nearby wall. Ryo was dismissed.

Ryo got up and pecked Rika on the cheek. Rika started to blush a little bit. "Bye, Pumpkin," he whispered and left the room.

Rika started to shake. Not out of fear or lightheadedness, but out of anger. _I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, RYO! _She didn't know why Ryo needed to be killed, nor did she really care. She was angry and frustrated, and wanted a punching bag to unleash her fury upon.

"Rika,"

"How much did you hear?" she asked, turning her head completely around to face Renamon.

Renamon looked surprised. "None: I was letting Ryo talk to you alone. What did he say that upset you?" She added, concerned.

"What do you mean?" she asked darkly.

Renamon did her equivalent of a shrug; she blinked. "I haven't seen you this upset since your mother sent you to cheerleading camp." The moment Renamon said that, she wished she hadn't. Rika's shaking just got more intense. Renamon swore that one of her veins was about to pop.

Rika stopped shaking and, with her head lowered, looked at the ground. "I need to talk to Henry." she finally said, dejectedly. She reached for her phone but her hand only reached it when she was sound asleep.

_I guess all that shaking exhausted her more than I thought._ Renamon thought as she tried to pick up Rika, but she, herself, was a bit exhausted. _Must be what the humans call "Jet lag"_ She thought as she put her tamer in a sitting position on the floor, as she got into a comfortable sitting position herself, waiting for sleep to come.

* * *

Rika was moaning softly in her sleep and rocking back and forth in a cold sweat when Henry entered her room. _Rika's still asleep?_ He shook her shoulder, hoping to wake her. He was rewarded. Rika gasped, grabbed and squeezed his arm hard, waking up with a start. 

Henry felt more than a little embarrassed as he pried Rika's hand from his arm. She was apparently recovering from whatever nightmare she just had. "Rika?" She looked into his gray eyes, her own face and violet eyes showing fear. The fact that she was scared scared Henry more than he wanted to admit. _It takes a lot to upset her. Must have been a bad nightmare._ "What is it?"

She gave him a confused look, then looked at the ground. "A nightmare," she said simply.

"What about the nightmare?" he asked, helping her up. "What scared you?" He was trying to look her in the eye, and she knew that saying "Nothing," wouldn't get him off her back.

Rika then looked out the window and saw that the clouds had become black, making it darker outside. She was calmer now, getting most of her normal composure back, though she was still a bit disturbed. _At least I'm not crying like a baby._ She looked at him and simply answered "I can't remember," she replied honestly. Getting better control of herself, she asked him "What time is it?" while rubbing her eyes. Looking at his clothes, she noticed that he was wearing nice semi-formal clothes, probably for work.

"A few minutes after one: Lunchtime." Rika sighed. _He'll probably ask for a lunch date._ "Do you want to come with me to the Matsuki Bakery?" he asked.

She thought about it and agreed. _At least I'll be able to see Gogglehead._ She then looked for Renamon, only to find her deep asleep. "Renamon." Renamon was still asleep "Renamon!" she ordered. Angry and a little worried, she walked over to her and noticed that Renamon was tensed up and seemed to be fighting some inner battle. When she started to reach over, Renamon grabbed her throat and started to choke her, but let go when she realized who it was. Renamon lowered her head, ashamed. _I attacked my own tamer!_

Henry was a little shocked, but hid it the best he could. Of course…

"Cat fight!"

Renamon and Rika glared at the white and green Digimon sitting on Henry's shoulder. Rika was the first to get her voice in. "Terriermon, I bet it's been awhile since you were in a tea party and played dress-up."

Terriermon's right eye twitched in fear of the memories. It had been almost six years since Susie had put a dress on him or he had to endure having "tea" forced down his throat. He chuckled nervously, and finally said "I don't think you have any dresses." He continued chuckling, but stopped when he saw the look of triumph in Rika's eyes. She was also grinning as if she had an ace in her sleeve.

"I believe I still have some of my very old dresses around here somewhere, probably in the attic." She shrugged her shoulders. "It shouldn't be hard to find them." Terriermon looked like he was about to faint. Henry himself was trying to keep himself from laughing, but a few chuckles here and there were getting through.

Terriermon began to get angry at how he had been set up. He then glared at his tamer and uttered a few colorful comments that won't be written. Smirking, Henry asked Rika (over Terriermon's cursings) if she would come with him. She agreed. Getting up, she got out of her room and was heading out when Seiko called "If you're going out, grab an umbrella: It looks like it's going to rain." Rika shouted her thanks to her grandma and grabbed two. Henry looked at her, a little confused as to why they needed two: Henry knew that Renamon more or less didn't mind the rain. Rika noticed this and said "I don't want to be stuck under an umbrella with a guy, thank you." Henry shrugged and followed her out the door.

* * *

On their way to the Matsuki Bakery, they talked about various things. However, Henry seemed to get nervous about the question about having a girlfriend, and when he couldn't get Rika to change the subject, he shot back "Where's your boyfriend?" 

To which, she replied "I don't have one at the moment. Might be trying to date Ryo soon, but we haven't made any plans."

Looking at Rika as if she was insane, he began to ask: "And Takato…"

"Has Jeri," she finished for him and glared daggers. _Bet he was in on that little call, too._

"Actually…" Henry began, but didn't finish. Rika planned on glaring at him until he stuttered it out. It didn't work as well, mainly because she still, for some reason, felt a little sleepy, was curious why he said that, and Henry was one of the tamers that was the least intimidated by her. The second one bothered her the most, however. As far as she knew, they were dating almost like a married couple.

"You know that if I don't get it out of you, I'll get it out of Kenta or Kazu, and you know the results won't be pretty." she said pointedly. "Spill it!"

Henry sighed and said "Jeri and Takato broke up,"

"After having a fight." Terriermon added, sullen. He still wasn't happy with the little prank that Rika had pulled. One look from Rika, however, and he knew he was about to be rewarded: Rika stopped and actually glared at Henry hard enough to scare him. Terriermon tried to hide his grin. _You're gonna get it!_ He thought gleefully.

He was right.

"Henry, would you mind telling me what the fight was about." She asked calmly. "And why you didn't tell me about it," she added, her voice getting hard.

Henry sighed, defeated. "It was about a month after you left, and a week after Renamon disappeared. They were fighting about the best ways to raise children. They both had different views about it and neither wanted to give any ground. That and…"

"Takato slapped Jeri," Terriermon said in a chipper voice.

"He did what?" Rika shouted, interrupting the bunny Digimon and glaring at it's Tamer.

Terriermon wasn't finished. "and called her a stupid… little… girl… heh heh" he trailed off as Rika's glare changed from his tamer to himself. Henry would have sighed in relief, but Rika would probably have beat him up for just doing that. Renamon, noticing her Tamer's feelings were not the best, went and joined Rika by her side. If Renamon was surprised by Henry's awkward stance, she only showed it by looking at her partner, then back at Henry. _Henry is rarely intimidated by Rika. Unless they were talking about something that Henry had a guilty conscience about._

_Rika, calm down._ She told herself, closing her eyes. _Breathe in. Breathe out._ When she looked at Henry again, she simply asked "Why didn't you tell me?" tiredly.

"Because you would have came back and killed Takato. Now don't get me wrong," he added when Rika glared at him "we really wanted you back, but we didn't want to do it over Takato's dead body. And don't worry. Takato and Jeri are still good friends, but they aren't going on any dates right now."

"_Momentai_. And don't expect them to go on any dates with you around," Terrier­mon added cheekily.

"Terriermon!" Henry shouted, nearly at his rope's end with the two. Sighing, he looked at the watched and scowled. _Yamaki's not going to be happy with me._ "Come on. Let's get a quick snack and then I need to be going."

_plip._

He sighed. Rika was in the process of opening an umbrella. "Rika…"

"Here," she said, opening the umbrella and giving it to Henry. Henry would have given it back to her but he knew that Rika wouldn't accept the offer. It began to pour. Rika quickly got the other one opened and started running to the bakery, with Henry not far behind. Renamon just disappeared and started moving in her invisible form towards the same building.

* * *

Takato was worried. His friend was never this late. Ever. He knew that calling the cops was a bad idea, mainly because he knew that his report would sound stupid: "Hi I'm calling in because my friend's not here, and I think something's happened to him." He could already hear the laughter from the dispatcher. _Or is it the rain?_ He asked himself as he looked out the glass door and was surprised when it opened and a couple came in, followed by a yellow humanoid fox. The lady was drenched, as was the fox, while the man just had a few sprinkles on his head. He then recognized Henry, Rika, and Renamon, with Terriermon on Henry's shoulder. After Renamon shook herself a little bit, she watched her friends close their umbrellas and went to the counter to meet Takato. He smiled, but it faltered when he saw the look that Rika was giving him. _What did I do now? Did she check her messages? I wouldn't think that she would be this angry over that._ At the same moment that Rika reached the counter, Mrs. Matsuki entered the room, looked at Rika in surprise, and then glared at her son. 

"I thought you said that she wasn't coming over!" she almost yelled at him.

"Mrs. Matsuki, we didn't know until Mrs. Hata and Ms. Nonaka picked us all up and started a party for Rika." Said Henry, coming to the defense of his friend.

Rika smirked. _So grandma did rat on me. _

This seemed to calm Mrs. Matsuki down a little bit, but she was still glaring at Takato as if he was in trouble. When she looked at Rika and Renamon's wet state, however, she forgot about her son. "Oh, Rika, you must be soaked all the way through. Come upstairs, I'll get you a change of clothes. Hon!" she yelled to the back of the bakery, "Get a towel. No, two towels." She turned back to Rika and her friends. "If you don't mind, come with me." The three tamers were about to go into the back room when… "Takato! You stay where you are." his mother demanded. Head bowed, he went back to the counter just as there was a crashing sound in the back room. "Takato! Stay there!" his mother pointed.

"Guilmon!" Mr. Matsuki yelled. "She said towels, not trowels!"

Wondering why there was trowel in a bakery, she looked at Mrs. Matsuki and asked "Renovating?" She shook her head no. "Fixing up the holes that Guilmon makes when he chases rats." she said. When they got to the back room, they came upon a very strange scene. Guilmon was on his back, pinning Mr. Matsuki to the floor. On the floor was a good dose of flour. Both Guilmon and Matsuki blinked innocently twice at the people they saw. Mai had to look stern in order to not bust out laughing at her husband. Shaking his head in amusement, Henry got past Mrs. Matsuki and, grabbing Guilmon's "hand," helped get him up. When Guilmon was off him, Mr. Matsuki got up and went looking for some towels. Guilmon just went to the front of the store where his partner was. Rika then noticed that she was cold in her wet clothes and started shivering. Mr. Matsuki came back with the requested towels and gave them to his wife, who gave them to Renamon and Rika. She then took Rika by the arm and started to lead her upstairs. Rika looked at Mai, fully intent on arguing out of getting her clothes changed. But Mrs Matsuki was just as adamant about Rika getting into dry clothes. Rika gave in, mainly because she was cold and she wanted to do anything but talk to Gogglehead.

Mr. Matsuki got to the front of the store, dismissing his son from the cash register. Takato almost ran to the back of the store, eager to talk to Henry. When he got there, however, he found that he was talking to someone else already.

"Do you know why Rika hated college?" Asked Renamon. Henry rested his chin on his fist and looked down, thinking.

"Rika wasn't exactly happy that she had to leave, but I don't think that was the reason," Henry mumbled, thinking aloud. "She sounded as if she didn't enjoy college. College is a learning experience. She wouldn't find any experience a good one without a friend, despite what she says. And Renamon is the best friend that she has!" he exclaimed, snapping his head up as a sudden thought hit him:

"Rika probably hated college because you weren't there, Renamon!"

Renamon looked at Henry, surprised and a little touched. _Rika didn't like college… because of me?_

Renamon wasn't the only one staring at Henry. Takato was looking at him as if he was strange, trying to figure out his logic.

They heard some knocking from upstairs and Mrs. Matsuki saying something, breaking the moment of silence in the group.

Takato was still a little bit confused at Rika's mood earlier. "So, why is Rika mad at me now? It wasn't the call, was it?" he asked, nervous. He was relieved when Henry shook his head, but he was still a little worried, still not figuring it out. Seeking for help, he looked at Renamon, who only shook her head, remaining silent. He then looked at Terriermon, who went through the motions of zipping his mouth shut. Deciding that they wouldn't say a thing about it, he decided to change the subject. "So, why were you late?" he asked Henry.

"So what's Gogglehead talking about now?"

They all turned to look at Rika who was wearing clothes that were too big for her. Of course, Mrs. Matsuki had to be four inches shorter than her. Takato recognized his father's clothes as well as Rika's look of suppressed embarrassment.

Henry answered her question. "He was wondering why I was late." He turned to Takato. "The reason why I was late was because I went to Rika's house. That, and her phone was off, so I couldn't say 'come and meet me by the Matsuki Bakery.'"

"That's strange: I don't remember turning my phone off." Rika said as she got her phone out. Sure enough, it was off. She tried to turn it on to no avail. "Typical," she muttered, realizing that it was dead. She looked at her watch, realizing she hadn't changed it to Japan time yet.

This action caused Terriermon to think of something to say that would cause his Tamer to be worried. "So Henry, how are you going to explain to Yamaki why you were late?" Terriermon asked. Henry looked at his watch and cursed in his mind.

"Uh, I gotta go. Bye." he said as he left the back room, picked some creampuffs, paid for them, and ran as fast as his legs could go.

* * *

Okay, I relented, but I would still like to get reviews. Otherwise I won't know what you think of this. 


	5. The Clone Wars Begin

I'm sorry that last chapter was just a little long. Oh, and if you don't want the young tamers to have names like Joe, Sam, and Bill, submit some Japanese names. I am revising the story every now and then, so if you want the full version, you will have to review my story.I'm sorry if I wasn't very clear, but I just want random Japanese names.  
It doesn't even matter if they mean anything specific. I just want _names._

* * *

Rika glared at Takato. Takato looked dejectedly at the floor. Guilmon was looking at Takato, confused. Renamon was looking at Rika, just waiting. Finally Takato decided to break the ice. "Have you checked your messages yet?" 

She smiled, and he cringed: He didn't like the way she grinned at him. Finally she asked "Gogglehead, do you have your cell phone recharger? Last time I checked, Yours was the same as mine." From the look on his face, she knew he knew he was cornered.

"Uh, my phone is also dead…" he started.

"Just give me the stupid charger," she demanded, holding out her hand palm up.

Sighing in defeat, he got up and went to get the charger. Guilmon just blinked innocently, not really knowing what was going on. Takato got back with the charger in his hands. Rika took it and plugged it into the wall and phone. She then turned the phone on and set the volume to max. She then began playing back the message, leaning against the wall and looking straight ahead as if not even noticing Takato.

"Message one:" The computerized voice said

"Uh, hi Rika. Th-This is Takato. I'm just calling to tell you… Huh, what?" Pause. Kazu saying something. "Shut up, Kazu! I won't say that: She'll kill me! Anyway, we're planning a little surprise party for you when you get back… Hey!"

"Takato loves you!" Kazu said very loudly and obnoxiously into the phone. Rika glanced over at Takato and saw a faint blush on his cheeks.

"Kazu… Give it back!"

"Not until you agree to say 'I love you, Rika,'" Kazu and Takato could barely be heard, probably because he was playing keep-away with the phone. Now Takato was _really_ blushing.

Takato sounded like he said "Yeah, yeah, just give me the phone," and his voice was very loud, as if his mouth was very close to the receiver. "Hi, Rika… Uhhhh, I love you. _As a friend_."

Kazu and some of his friends were complaining on how bad he just ruined it. "Aww, man!" Kazu groaned, "You-" _Beep._

"End of message."

Takato was trying to disappear into his clothes, but was finding it hard to do.

"Mind explaining that?" She finally asked.

"Uhh…" was all Takato could say.

"Who else was in on this? Henry? Kazu? Kenta? My mom?" She asked, irritated. _If my mom knew about this, I'll never live it down._

Takato nodded at all of them but the last one and added one final name that shocked Rika: "Jeri."

Rika tried to contain her shock as she asked "How did Jeri take it when you said you love me?"

This confused Takato a little bit. "Jeri and I are just friends," he said simply.

"Sure, and I'm a Little Tea Pot." She responded sarcastically. "I thought you two were going out," she added dryly.

Then it hit Takato what she was talking about. "Oh…" And what she would do to him _if_ she found out. "Uhh… W-we broke up." The moment he said that, he knew what she was going to ask next, and that made him sweat bullets.

"Why did you break up?" she asked coldly, glaring at him as if wishing he would drop dead at her feet. That look made Takato think that maybe she already knew, but he just shrugged it off. _There's no way she could know about it._

"Uhhh… we had a disagreement," he said nervously, trying to avoid how bad the "disagreement" got.

"About what?" she demanded calmly.

"Uhh… why you… left?" he ventured.

Rika glared at him, ready to beat him to a pulp "You don't seem sure of yourself, Gogglehead." she commented dryly.

Guilmon was confused. _Why is my tamer lying to Rika? I thought it was bad to lie._ If Takato knew the thoughts that went through Guilmon's head, he probably could have stopped him from uttering the following: "Takato yelled at Jeri, they-"

"Aah… no Guilmon! I value my life!" Takato shouted as he jumped at Guilmon and closed his mouth. Guilmon looked at his tamer and blinked innocently, not really understanding what was going on.

"You were yelling over why I left?" Rika asked skeptically, glaring at the two boys. Takato and Guilmon looked at her and gave her clueless looks. Rika tried her best to stop from giggling, but she relented by smirking. Turning serious, Rika stated "Henry already told me a little about your 'disagreement' when we were walking here."

Takato was surprised that he was still alive. He figured, as well as the other tamers, that as soon as she got wind of this, they would be down one Senior Tamer named Takato Matsuki. _Guess Henry calmed her down a little bit._

"Speaking of which: Do you know who Henry's girlfriend is? Blame him for making me find out about this," she added.

Takato blinked "Henry has a girlfriend?"

Rika narrowed her eyes. "He didn't even tell you?" she asked mildly confused. "He tells you everything, though." she added.

Embarrassed, he asked "How do you know he has a girlfriend?"

"He tried to avoid the subject," she simply said.

"Oh," was all that Takato could think of saying at the moment. He looked at the floor, and Rika looked with him, both thinking different thoughts. The thoughts going in Rika's mind went something like this: _I'm not going to kill him. I am _not _going to kill him. Boy do I want to kill him!_ while Takato's when on with: _I'm going to get Henry! Why did I even tell him that I liked Rika a bit more than as a friend?_

* * *

After five minutes, Guilmon sniffed the air and muttered "I smell Digimon." 

Rika looked up and pushed herself off from the wall and got out the back room. When she looked back at Takato and Guilmon, she was surprised and angry to find them both moping around in the back room. To say she was ready to beat them up would be putting it mildly. She was infuriated and started to yell at the pair, with Renamon behind her shoulder, glaring. "What are you doing standing there? There's a Digimon that's about to come through and your sitting here like it's nothing? Do you want this Digimon to wreak this city?"

Takato was instantly on the defensive. "Don't worry. I'm sure one of the children will be…"

CHILDREN!" She exploded. "You have eight to fifteen-year-olds FIGHTING DIGIMON! They could get hurt! They could get killed! They could… They could…"

"Well, I guess you know how Yamaki felt when we went fighting Digimon," he commented nervously, scared out of his wits. This comment made Rika stop to think for a while. "And besides, if it's anything that's dangerous, Hypnos will call us."

_Ring._

Rika looked at her phone and sighed. _I am _definitely _spending too much time on the phone lately._ She picked it up and was surprised to find it was Hypnos. Glaring at Takato, she answered it.

"Rika Nonaka, is Takato with you?"

"Yes, he…" she yawned, feeling a wave of drowsiness wash over her. "Yes, he is."

"Good. There is an Ultimate-level Digimon coming through in front of his parent's bakery. It looks really strong, so tell him to get WarGrowlmon out." _beep_.

Ending the call, she told Takato "Looks like we're going to be fighting a Digimon after all. That was Hypnos, saying a strong Ultimate was coming through."

That got Takato up and running. If he was running any faster, the automatic door wouldn't have been able to move to let him out. He walked into a Digital Field before he knew it, closely followed by Guilmon, Rika, and Renamon. Rika and Renamon, however, were having a hard time staying awake. Rika was starting to zone out when a recognizable voice called her name.

"Rika!"

Looking around, she found out that the voice belonged to Susie, who was looking at her as if questioning Rika's health. Rika looked up to see who she was fighting against and gasped. She was looking at a black centaur that had an ox's body and head, wearing red armor. She knew who this was, despite the fact that it was almost eight years since he died. _He almost took Renamon away from me. _She thought. Looking at Renamon, she would have ran to her if only her legs would cooperate. Renamon was almost on the ground. It sounded like Renamon was trying to say something, but couldn't get the strength to poject it. She tried to grab a card from her card holder, only to realize that she didn't have it with her.

"Rika! Catch!" Rika heard Henry shout and looked up in time to see the card. For some odd reason, her reflexes seemed slowed down somehow and she barely managed to catch the card. She looked at it. It took awhile before her brain recognized it as a digivolution card. She swiped it through her Digivice. Looking back at Renamon, she could tell that she was still as slow-moving as before. She then began to digivolve into Kyubimon. She looked like she revived a little and Rika felt more awake.

"None shall defy the Sovereign!" yelled Vajramon.

* * *

Wolfie was back on his knees before his master, ready to make his report. His Master acknowledged him and he began to make his report. "Over three-fourths of our troops are in position. Number Five has engaged the Tamers." 

"I am already aware of Number Five's actions." said his Master. It was then that Wolfie noticed that his master was holding what looked to be a crystal orb in his hand. "You may get up and look with me." he said, motioning for Wolfie to stand up. Confused but obedient, he got up and looked at the orb and was tempted to gasp. There, in the orb, was the picture of the battle. "Now watch, little wolf, as we see the effect of the Dark Aura on those punched by the Dark Touch."

Wolfie looked at the picture, completely in awe.

* * *

"Vajramon?" said Lopmon. Rika looked at Lopmon, who was on Susie's shoulder. Lopmon had a look of shock and surprise on her small face. It took awhile for Rika's slowed-down brain to figure out how Lopmon knew Vajramon. _Of course. Lopmon's Ultimate form, Antylamon, is a Deva type, too._ Rika knew that it would take an Ultimate to beat him. Concentrating hard, she held the card as tight as possible between her two fingers. Seeing a blue glow, she looked down to see the card turned into a Blue Card. Swiping it through her Digivice, she noticed a green Cyborg Digimon in the air with his arms spread out and his feet together. Kyubimon began Matrix Digivolving. There began to be a triangle forming in front of Rapidmon. "Tri-beam!" The beam hit Vajramon, but it didn't cause severe damage. 

"Digi-modify! Digivolution activate!" The voices belonged to Takato and Susie. _I finally get to see Lopmon's Champion form._ Guilmon was surrounded by a red, egg-shaped object while Lopmon was surrounded by a pink one. The eggs burst, revealing that Guilmon digivolved to Growlmon, while Lopmon digivolved to a martial artist with a yellow Gi and a black belt with red gloves on and curved blades on the back of her wrists which extended side of her forearms. She also had a blue handkerchief under her chin and was about the same size and shape as Gargomon.

Getting her Digivice out, Rika got the stats of the new player of the game: "Turuiemon: Animal-type Digimon. Champion. Main attacks are Gauntlet Claw and Lightning Kung-Fu." Looking at Turuiemon, she could see why she had those attacks. _Those blades could probably cut a good-sized chunk out of any building._

"Talisman of Light!"

Taomon's attack did just as little damage as Rapidmon's, but it seem to anger Vajramon more. _He must be weakening._ The thought was barely thought when Vajramon took out his blades and attacked Taomon with Deva blade, making an X fly out and meet her hastily put-up shield. It resisted the shield at first, but Rika was getting a bad headache. The headache turned into a full-fledged migraine as the shield broke. However the attack didn't stop at the shield. It hit Taomon full in the chest, causing Rika and Taomon to cry out in pain. Rika fell to her knees, and took one last look at the super-powered Deva before fainting. Taomon also fell to the ground and de-digivolved to Renamon and fainted with her Tamer.

* * *

"Why did her Tamer faint?" wondered Wolfie aloud, forgetting whose presence he was in. He felt himself shiver, and he knew that his master had just smiled. 

"Because her tamer and herself are linked as close as anyone can be without being in the same body." his master answered. "Which might also explain why both were moving slower than usual." he commented before looking back at the battle.

Vajramon had just used the same attack on Rapidmon. He de-digivolved into Terriermon before he passed out. Before anyone could stop her, Susie took out a card that turned blue. To say she was surprised would be an understatement; she was flabbergasted. She swiped the card through, and Turuiemon Matrix digivolved to Antylamon.

"Stop! Vajramon, stop this right now!" She ordered.

If Vajramon even noticed who was saying this, he only acknowledged this by shouting "None shall defy the Dark Sovereign."

Antylamon narrowed her eyes in confusion. "Who is this _Dark_ Sovereign you speak of?" She asked calmly.

Vajramon just smirked, not even answering his fellow Deva's question. He then charged her and she braced herself, planning on pushing him back. He ended up being stronger than she remembered, and it took all her strength just to hold him back.

"Lightning Joust!"

Wolfie saw an arc of electricity hit Vajramon on his ox body, unbalancing him and causing Antylamon to get the upper hand. She pushed tho ox off his feet, and Gallantmon entered the view, getting ready to finish him off. Antylamon closed her eyes and bowed her head in sorrow, as if not wanting to witness the following act.

"Shield of the Just!" Gallantmon yelled, pointing his shield at Vajramon.

"Corona Blaster!" Surprised, Antylamon looked for the voice's owner, but couldn't see him. The two attacks hit Vajramon hard, but when the dust cleared he was still standing. Until his knees hit the ground. However, Gallantmon was worn out with all the energy he put into the attack, and Wolfie couldn't see the other Digimon. Antylamon sighed as if regretting what she was about to do.

"Bunny Blade!" She yelled, making a blade form in her right hand. She drove it into Vajramon, causing his data to disperse.

At that same instant, the Orb got fuzzy, making it impossible for Wolfie or his master to see what happened next. "Hmm. That explains why I haven't found any data on Number Eleven. Nevertheless, her clone will be ready." His master commented to himself.

"Master, may I…" Wolfie started hesitantly.

"Everyone reacts differently when exposed to something new. So it was with her." His master stated, reading Wolfie's mind.

Wolfie shivered. He didn't like it when his mater reads his mind. "Perhaps a more intimidating opponent would be an IceDevimon." Wolfie said. He shivered again, sensing his master's smirk.

"I have thought about it, but IceDevimon are rare, not easily created, and too independent. If we send one to my future domain, half of it would be frozen before I could regain control of him again."

Backing away from the throne, Wolfie bowed in an apologetic manner "Forgive my ignorance, Master. I did not…"

"Get up," said his master irritably, interrupting his excuses. "Know this; My domain had better be ready when I enter, or there will be consequences. Do you understand, WereGarurumon?"

Wolfie kneeled and bowed his head. "I understand perfectly, Master." His master dismissed him with a gesture similar to someone shooing a fly away, and WereGarurumon walked hastily to the door. However, before he reached it, his master made one final comment.

"And make sure to plant the Vixen Surprise near the Matsuki bakery, where she is currently resting. This is something that I simply must see…"

* * *

"NO!" Rika yelled, sitting up in a bed. She wiped her hand across her forehead and was surprised to find a lot of moisture on her hand. She then groaned out in pain, as the feeling of pain in the right side of her ribcage became noticeable. When she felt the area, however, she didn't feel the pain increasing. Not really thinking about it, she got up and realized that she was in someone else's room. _Probably some guy's room._ She thought as she looked at the decorations. Looking out the window, she realized that it was dusk. _I've been sleeping away more than half of my time here!_ She thought irritably. "Renamon?" she called out, hoping she was alright. Renamon emerged from the shadows with bandages making an X on her chest. "Are you alright?" she asked. 

"Yes Rika." she answered, then said "Rika, I had a strange dream when I was asleep. It appeared that someone was watching the battle from afar, then were talking about it…"

"That was my dream too." Said Rika, not really thinking about it.

Renamon looked at her with a shocked expression. Then her ears perked up when she heard the sound of someone running up stairs, and her eyes darted to the door.

_Knock knock._ "Rika!" called a cheerful voice that Rika recognized as Jeri's. "Are you up?" Walking to the door, she opened it quietly and put her finger to her mouth, motioning her to be quiet.

"I want to talk to you." Rika whispered.

Jeri was a little uneasy, but she didn't know why. _If she found out about Takato and me… I pity the remaining days he has._ She continued to smile her winning smile. Rika put her arm around Jeri and led her to the bed. They both sat down on it, Rika putting a reassuring arm around Jeri. Renamon closed the door, knowing what Rika was about to ask Jeri, and it might not be pretty.

"Jeri, I heard you and Gogglehead got in a fight." Rika stated bluntly. Jeri's eyes opened a good five inches bigger. _How does she know? Is that Takato downstairs, or a dead man walking?_ "Jeri, please tell me as much as you can remember about the fight." Rika continued, trying to placate her friend by any means possible. She then smirked. "And I promise to refrain from beating him up until after I have heard the whole story."

Jeri smiled half-heartedly, not really believing her friend. Not to say that she didn't trust her, it's just that Rika tended to be a little too overprotective of her. She even remembered the time when some jerk severely insulted her on a date, and Rika just happened to be in the same fast food diner. To this day, the poor guy's kids could probably still feel the broken ribs. "If you want to talk about it, I'm sure Takato…"

"I want to hear it from you," Rika cut in. "I want to prolong his life as long as possible, and him describing how he hurt you would only make his suffering more intense."

Jeri sighed and looked at Rika and Renamon and leaned in towards Rika, whispering. "What I am about to say must not leave this room. You must tell no one about it, not even Henry." Glancing up at Renamon, who was leaning against the door, she added "Renamon, the same goes for you." This shocked both Rika and her partner, though both hid it well enough. Both nodded their heads in the affirmative, wanting to hear this little secret. Jeri took a deep breath and said: "Takato and I were planning on getting married, but whenever we tried to decide about anything, we would just disagree on it, even if it was a small thing, like what color the bride's-maids' dresses should be." Rika now was truly confused. Takato wasn't the type of person who disagreed over every little thing. Takato _isn't_ the type of person who disagreed over every little thing.

"Are you sure Gogglehead was himself those days?" Rika asked, more than a little surprised at her fellow Tamer's actions.

Jeri just smiled a little when she heard that and said simply "I think he had a small crush on a pretty lady."

Rika looked at her and said "You think Takato has a crush on me?" Renamon was also surprised by this news, looking at Jeri in surprise. Rika blushed a little, but shrugged it off. Jeri just giggled at her friend's discomfort.

"So when did Takato slap you?" Rika asked.

Jeri smiled, embarrassed. "He never slapped me. Sure, there was a lot of shouting, but when we decided that a marriage might not be the best thing, we split up. Everyone was curious as to why we suddenly split up, so both of us came up with a story about how he slapped me and called me a stupid little girl. The last bit might have been a little too much, because Henry was ready to beat Takato up; I've never seen him that angry before…"

"Quiet," Renamon ordered silently, hearing someone coming upstairs.

_Knock Knock._ The door opened and in popped Henry and Terriermon. "Rika, you're awake. I... uh, Yamaki's here. He wants to talk to you." He then put a worried expression on his face "Are you OK?" he asked.

"I'm fine," Rika said forcefully. She then got up off the bed and walked to the door. She then got out of the room and walked down the stairs. Her friends followed her. She then recognized the house she was in: The Matsuki Bakery. _I was sleeping in Takato's bed?_ she blushed. _Why am I even worried over it? A bed is just a place where someone sleeps. Nothing more._ Still, a part of her was… intrigued that she had done something "daring," but another part of her, the icy, rational part of her, was angry for the fact that she was pleased for those strange reasons and tried to reason away the "daringness" of it.

Getting to the bottom of the stairs, she noticed that Jeri, Henry, and Yamaki weren't alone. Takato, Susie, Ryo, Kazu, Kenta, and three of the other younger Tamers were there as with their partners. When they noticed her, many of them had relieved expressions on their faces.

Takato was the first to speak. "Uh, Hi Rika. Are you-"

"I'm fine," Rika answered him before he could say anything more.

Yamaki seemed to ignore her quick reaction, and got straight to the point. "We don't know why Zhuchoumon **SP?** decided to recreate the Devas, but we won't lie down to him trying to wreck this city."

"How do we know that Zhuchoumon sent sent these 'Cloned' Devas to wreck the city?" _Clones,_ Rika thought, _Where have I heard that before?_ "We know that Zhuchoumon doesn't like humans, but if he did this, the remaining three Sovereigns would team up on him." said a voice from behind Rika. She turned to her side to let Henry and Jeri through. Yamaki glared at him through his sunglasses.

"I think... that we are dealing with a Myotismon," said Rika completely throwing everyone for a loop, except Renamon who just nodded.

"His silhouette did look like one." She confirmed to her Tamer.

Yamaki looked at the Tamer and Digimon, surprised. "You have seen this Digimon?" he asked.

Rika smiled at her own naiveté. _How do I know that the stupid dream was real?_ Luckily the question was answered by Renamon.

"We had a dream,"

Yamaki just sighed and put his head in his hands, Takato and Guilmon blinked dumbly, Terriermon laughed raucously, Henry had a confused expression on his face, and the rest were either chuckling, snorting, laughing, or just plain dumbfounded.

"You _both_ had the same dream." Henry asked, wanting to verify what he heard was true. When both of them nodded, he got into his thinking position. "I think we can trust them." he said. This made everyone look at him as if all of his sense left his brains. He smiled when he saw the others' reactions. "At least for now," he amended.


	6. Vixen Surprise

Thanks to DigiFreak103 for the Japanese names.

* * *

"So let me get this straight: when the two of you fainted, you had the same exact dream?" Yamaki asked 

"For the tenth time, yes!" Rika gritted.

"And this Digimon said that he had cloned the Devas?"

"He mentioned 'Number Eleven,' which I took to mean Antylamon, and something about her clone being ready," She closed her eyes in concentration. "I also seem to remember something about some Number Five, and him being sent early or something."

"Tell me the details of your dream," he said.

Rika sighed as she repeated her dream to all those in the room, with Renamon helping out every now and then. The younger tamers, including Susie, had left to go home. In the process of describing the stranger's shadow, the automatic door in the front of the store opened. Rika felt Renamon tense a split second before she got into a fighting stance.

"Someone's here." she growled, no longer in her calm and composed voice that everyone is used to hearing from her.

"Renamon, what is it?" she asked, more than a little worried at her partner's actions. Renamon didn't answer. This worried her Tamer to no end. The only time that Renamon would be this angry, or show her anger outwards in such a manner, would be if she utterly despised something.

_Sniff sniff_. "I smell Renamon," Guilmon said. _Sniff sniff._ "I smell two Renamon."

"Does Renamon have a sister?" Kenta asked tauntingly, inwardly thinking that he could get away with it.

Rika only felt her fellow partner tense up a little bit more. Trying herself not to snap, she just said "Kazu. Shut up!" At that moment, a red-eyed Renamon walked into the back room, surprising everyone there.

Except Renamon.

"Vixen Surprise," Rika muttered under her breath, realizing what the "surprise" was.

"I should have known!" Rika's Renamon spat out. The newcomer just gave a big smirk, not even looking tense.

"Hello, Renamon." The newcomer's voice was very similar to Rika's Renamon, but was too smooth.

Rika, wondering if the new Renamon was, in fact, a Renamon, got out her Digivice and got the info on the intruder: "Renamon: Animal-type Digimon, Rookie, _Virus?" I thought Renamons were Vaccine. _she put her Digivice down and looked at her Renamon. "Rena…" she started worriedly.

Rika's Renamon charged. The new one just chuckled as she blocked the arm that the paw was on that would have sent her trough the doorway and out the window. The others just gasped. They've never seen Rika's Renamon go that fast, and another Digimon, a Rookie no less, that blocked it as if it was nothing. Grinning, the Intruder just threw Renamon into the wall. Walking up to her fallen enemy, Intruder just looked at Renamon then at her partner and taunted, "It will be a pleasure to pulverize your pathetic Tamer." Renamon tried to get up, but was pushed back down. Leaning down, she whispered in her ear "And I'll make sure you hear every scream she makes." Getting up, Intruder turned to face Rika and charged, pulling her fist back to get ready to send her into a wall. Rika didn't have time to react. Before she knew it, Intruder was in front of her. The split second before the fist connected, Rika saw a shadow jump in front of her and get hit instead. The person went flying into the wall.

_CRASH!_

The mysterious figure dropped to the floor. He groaned and rubbed his back, getting up from the floor, revealing the shadow to be Takato. Rika was surprised that Takato got the hit and not her, but one look at Intruder's angry face was enough to know that Takato got into the line of fire, so to speak. _Takato tried to "save" my life again? What is it with this guy?_ Hearing growls, Rika looked over at Guilmon and was surprised to see a feral look in his eyes. A look that she hadn't seen in a long time.

"No one hurts Takatomon! Pyro Sphere!" Guilmon shouted, spitting a ball of fire at Intruder. She barely dodged it, but that wasn't it for Guilmon. He charged and head-butted her, sending her to the ground. Intruder barely managed to roll away from his Rock Breaker. Getting back on her feet, she was getting ready to slice him to pieces with her Diamond Storm, but was stopped by a very unlikely Digimon.

"Kahuna Waves!"

Turning around, Intruder saw that she was being assaulted by bubbles in the shape of hearts. That was the last thing she saw. She was data shortly thereafter.

Takato groaned again, and Renamon wasn't moving. Rika, fearing the worst, demanded a rejuvenation card from Henry. However, when Renamon heard her voice, she got up gingerly and looked at her tamer, visibly relieved. "Rika! Are you alright?" she asked, feeling that she had been neglecting her duties as a partner.

Renamon wasn't the only one visibly relieved. "What were you doing, just sitting there? Do you have any idea how worried I was about you! Don't EVER do that again!" Rika fumed. She then turned her attention to Takato. "And you, Mr. Gogglehead, just had to get in front of me and throw out your back." She yelled at him, noting that he was still bent double. He tried to get a word in sideways, but didn't succeed. "Get to the hospital and get your back looked at." When he didn't make a move and nobody helped him, she yelled "Go to the hospital or I'll choke you to death!" Even though a bystander might question her determination, her friends merely acknowledge this as her way of showing worry: Yelling at everyone and everything that was hurt.

Henry decided to help Takato to his car, where both got in and Henry drove to the nearest hospital.

* * *

Henry pretty much drove in silence, thinking of the best way to ask his girlfriend to marry him. They had been secretly dating for three years, but he still couldn't get the courage to tell his friends about her. _They'd probably think she's weird. Heck, they would probably think _I'm _weird. Or at least crazy._ Takato, who was sitting in the passenger's seat doubled-over, noticed that Henry had a thoughtful look on his face. _He sure isn't saying much. I wonder what's on his mind._

"Henry?" Henry grunted. "Uh… Rika said you have a girlfriend…"

"Henry? Girlfriend?" Responded Terriermon, completely ignoring his Tamer's reddening cheeks. "The only girlfriends he has are the ones he kisses on the cheeks, which include Jeri, Kiren… you know, all the ones he took on dates, basically."

"Terriermon," said Henry in an even tone. "unless you want to walk home, shut up!" His reaction surprised everyone in the car, but Henry was already thinking of ways to tell his friends about _her._

Takato was pretty sure that if he continued where Terriermon left off, he would be walking to the hospital. But he was still curious about his friend's mysterious girlfriend. "So you do have a girlfriend," Takato stated. "Do you want to talk about her?" he asked, hoping to get more info from his friend.

Henry just glanced at him and said "No. Not yet, anyways." There followed a few minutes of silence, broken when Takato remembered something to talk to Henry about.

"Why did you tell Kazu that I like Rika?" He almost whined. He was still pretty embarrassed about the phone call. _And the fact that she played it back in my face didn't help any, either._

That got a grin from Henry. "Because I think that you and Rika would make a cute couple." Terriermon's eyes got a little bigger. _If Rika heard him say that!_

"What about _you_ and Rika?" asked Takato, blushing.

Henry's grin faded. "I can't! For… reasons" he said.

_I wonder what 'reasons'? Girlfriend, or even a fiancée? _Terriermon asked himself, smirking.

After a few more minutes of silence, they got to the hospital.

* * *

"So Renamon, who was that?" asked Kazu. Renamon gave Kazu a very Rika-like glare that caused him to lose control of his bladder. Renamon was very rarely the one to show any emotion, and to her to show unbridled hatred towards anyone was sure to be nothing short of a death certificate. 

"My _sister"_ she spat out, clearly not in a good mood.

_Do you want to talk about it? _Rika asked Renamon, hoping the bond they had was still intact.

Renamon glanced at her and projected the thought _No._ She was not in the mood to talk to anyone, not even her Tamer. Rika just looked at her partner and started to walk out.

"Just where do you think you're going, young lady?" asked Guardramon. Rika just glared at the robot and continued to the door.

Yamaki appeared out of nowhere and stepped in her way. "Ms. Nonaka, I think I should take you home," he said. "Someone seems to be after you and it would not be safe being seen alone."

Rika thought about it for a minute, then agreed. "Sure, whatever it takes to get out of these Bozos' sights."

"Hey!" shouted Kenta, Kazu, and Guardramon.

"How rude," commented MarineAngemon.

Looking over Rika's shoulder, he looked at the remaining Tamers and their Digimon. "And I also think it's time you left. I don't know if Mr. and Mrs. Matsuki are happy about closing their store for the day. I suggest that you all go home." He then led Rika to his car. Renamon followed and got in with Rika, in no mood to follow a fast-moving car.

* * *

"Well chumly, what are we going to do?" Kazu asked, bored out of his wits. He was walking in the park, not really noticing where he was going. 

"Go home, I guess." answered Kenta, not in the mood to do anything with Kazu at that moment. He had a sick feeling that it would involve Rika one way or another.

"Aw, come on!" Kazu said, throwing his arm across Kenta's shoulders. "Let's just chill. Maybe we could think of a way to get the two lovebirds together."

Kenta got really nervous. If there was one thing that he didn't want right now, it would be the wrath of Rika and Ryo. True that Rika may not have any feelings towards Ryo, but it didn't mean that it was vice versa. Ryo wasn't the type of person who beat up people when he was angry, but he would slowly get to you if you got on his bad side. "A-are you sure that is wise?" he asked.

Hearing the nervousness in his fellow Tamer's voice, he looked over and said something that was encouraging in his own opinion. "Don't worry: I'm in the same boat as you."

However, this wasn't very reassuring to Kenta. "Yeah, but both of us will be beaten to an inch of our lives."

Looking at his surroundings, Kazu noticed where he was: Guilmon Hideout. Since it was discovered, a few vandals have written their own views of Digimon on the old hut: It had to be painted every other week. The paint still glistened a little in wetness, signifying that it was just barely painted. An idea got lodged in Kazu's brain making him grin.

Kenta, completely silent to Kazu's thoughts, asked "Dude, you OK?"

"Yep chumley, I just got a good way to get Rika and Takato together." Kenta gulped. _We're dead!_


	7. Graffiti and Scandals

Graffiti and Scandals

"Aah-OW!" Henry winced, feeling sorry for his poor friend Takato. Takato then walked out of the chiropractor's office, still rubbing his back but was now in an upright position.

"Feeling better?" Henry asked. Takato merely nodded. "Good. I think it's time you got home. Your mom must be worried sick about you."

"Don't your parents worry about you?" Takato asked.

Henry shook his head. "No, I-" he began

"He moved out of that looser apartment the first chance he got." Terriermon, on his Tamer's shoulder, commented. Henry, _purely_ out of habit, reprimanded the digital rabbit. Takato just chuckled at the sight of the two.

A thought hit him and he thought out loud. "Wait, if Henry lives in another apartment, then I won't be able to ask Janyu about Henry's girlfriend." Henry and Terriermon heard this, but only the Digimon chose to comment on this.

"So _that_ was the reason why you moved out: You didn't want your parents to see you dating some Gothic wannabe," Terriermon commented. Henry just glared at his shoulder and shook it, dislodging Terriermon. Fortunately, his ears are more than just second hands: they also are a gliding mechanism, making him land safely on the ground.

_Gothic wannabe? I wonder if he means that girl who helped us out in the D-Reaper incident. Why can't I remember her name?_ Takato thought. "Are you talking about anyone in particular, Terriermon?" He asked. The bunny Digimon just shook his head. Takato looked back at Henry and was surprised by the expression on his face. _Terriermon's comment probably hit closer to home than he thought it would._ Deciding that his friend had embarrassed himself enough for the day, he said, "Come on, let's get you home."

* * *

"We're here," Henry said, pulling up to the sidewalk outside of Takato's house. Takato and Guilmon quickly got out, wanting nothing more than to sleep in. 

He was a little surprised to see Terriermon and Henry getting out of the car as well, so he asked him "Why are you coming in? Thanks for the ride, but I don't need to be escorted to my room."

Henry smiled at this and responded, "I have to talk to your parents. It's better if I explain the holes in their walls. That and your back won't need more work on it," he added, smiling. Takato grinned at this.

Unfortunately, Takato would need some minor popping of his back, because the moment he got into the bakery, his mother got him in a strong bear hug. When Mai let go of (or rather, was pried from) her son, she began to give her son a good scolding, but luckily he was saved from any further embarrassment by a cell phone ringing a ringtone he wasn't familiar with. Curious, he followed the sound of the ringing to find Rika's cell phone.

"Aw nuts!" Takato commented, holding Rika's ringing phone. He saw an unfamiliar name on it, Michael, and an American number. Deciding against his better judgment to answer it, he heard an unfamiliar voice. It was very unfamiliar for him. **(A/N: Sorry, just had to do that)**

"Hello? Rika? Are you there?"

"Uh, hi, this is… uh, Rika's cell phone. Uh… Takato speaking. May I ask who's calling?"

"Not until you answer why you have Rika's phone."

Takato blushed at the memory. "Uhhh… Rika played back a message in my face that I left that was embarrassing, and she left her phone at my house."

Pause. "You told her your intimate feelings to her." _Do you have some sort of death wish?_

"Yup, and how he loved her and that he wanted to marry her and have as many kids as possible with her…" said Terriermon, who had jumped on Takato's shoulder to add his input.

"Terriermon!" Henry and Takato shouted. "I'm going to rip you in two for that, you little…" Takato didn't finish, but dropped the phone with the intent to choke Terriermon.

Terriermon, however, was dislodged when Takato turned instantaneously to get him, which saved him from getting whacked. When Takato dived at the little guy, he just jumped out of the way and ran behind Henry's leg. Takato was about to abandon all caution and go after Terriermon, but was stopped by his friend, who said (after grabbing his shoulders) "That's enough Takato. Stop it!"

Takato, when he realized what he almost did, was very apologetic and it was seen in his eyes. Henry merely said, "Don't worry about it. It isn't the first time that his mouth got the better of him, and it won't be the last."

"Why did Takato want to hurt Terriermon?" Guilmon asked, confused.

"Because he embarrassed Takato in front of a stranger." Henry said, letting go of Takato.

"But there's no stranger here," Guilmon stated.

Terriermon was more then a little nervous about how Takato reacted to his comment. "The stranger is on the phone. Speaking of which," he added as cheekily as possible. "how is he going to say _his_ feelings to Rika when her boyfriend has her phone." That got a reprimand from both Tamers as Takato picked up the phone and continued to talk into it.

"Sorry about that. One of my… friends is a bit too much of a joker."

"And his nickname is 'Terriermon'? Does he have a friend whose name is Willis?" the stranger asked.

"Uh. What message would you like delivered to Rika?" Takato asked, avoiding the question.

"This is Michael McLaud. Tell Rika that I and my sister will be coming over for a visit, and to pick us up from the airport tomorrow at 2:00 PM."

"Uh, OK. I'll tell Rika," he ended the call, then added under his breath "and everyone else"

"Who was that?" asked Henry, still holding Terriermon.

Takato just shrugged and said, "Someone named Michael McLaud. He said that he was going to be at the airport at 2:00 tomorrow."

Everyone went silent in the back room.

Looking at the phone, Takato said, "I guess I better give this to Rika."

Henry sighed. "I better go with you. I don't know how she will react having a personal phone call answered."

* * *

_Knock knock._ "Rika? Are you in there?" Takato asked after knocking on her door. Getting no answer, he decided to enter the room, drop the phone off, and run like nothin' else. 

But when he opened the door, he thought that Heck must've frozen over. For leaning against the wall was Rika. Rika's shoulders were going up and down. Rika's eyes were wet. Her cheeks had tears running down them. She was hugging herself. She was gasping every now and then. She was _crying._ Not a little sniffle, but _full-blown crying._ The only person who might have seen her cry like this would be Renamon and _maybe_ Mrs. Seiko.

Takato put the phone on an end table that was near Rika's "sleeping bag" and he walked over and put his hand on her shoulder. Instantly her arms were around his shoulders, with her crying in his chest. To say that he was surprised would be an understatement. He was in shock. He didn't know what to do! _Should I dare to kiss her? Should I just hug her? Should I even pat her on the head?_ Choosing the second option, he hugged her and discovered that she was talking into his shirt. He tried to hear the words she was saying, but she couldn't make them out, so he just tried to console her. "Don't worry; everything is going to be fine. We're all here for you: Me, Henry, Jeri, even Kenta, Kazu, and Ryo." He could feel her shaking in laughter. "We all care for you and won't let anything happen to you. You know that, don't you?" he asked softly.

She just nodded and said softly "Thank you." She then grabbed his shoulder in a vice-like grip and said a bit harder "If you tell anyone about this, you can bet that the short life you have won't be enjoyable."

* * *

"Henry." He turned to see Renamon with disturbed look on her face. 

"Renamon? Are you Okay?" he asked, a little surprised that Renamon had come to him. When she didn't answer, he simply asked, "What's wrong?"

"I am failing in my duties to my Tamer." Henry looked at her, surprised. "I attacked my Tamer, then was unable to protect her." She closed her eyes, not really wanting Henry to see her pain.

Henry butted in. "Just because you reacted from a bad nightmare and was overpowered by a 'sister,'" Renamon opened her eyes and glared at him when he said that, but he didn't pay attention to it. "…doesn't mean that you have become inept at protecting your Tamer. And don't forget, Rika is a woman now, not the girl you met eight or nine years ago. She can take care of herself." He smirked. "Most of the time."

"But what if I'm gone and no one is around to help her?" Renamon half-joked.

"_Momentai!_ We'll be around to beat up any jerk that tries to hit on her." Henry nodded and smirked a little at that comment.

"Speaking of being 'hit on,' why are you trying to get Takato and Rika together?" Renamon asked, curious.

"It just reminds him of his secretive relationship with his girlfriend." Terriermon quipped, not really knowing if it was the truth or not.

"Terriermon!" Henry growled.

"What?"

"Do… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have reacted like that." he said, looking apologetically at Terriermon.

"_Momentai!"_

"Is that all he says?" Everyone turned to look at the newcomer, Takato minus Rika's phone.

Responding to Takato's joking tone, Terriermon said, "Hey, just because I am famous for a phrase doesn't mean that it's all I say!"

Takato just smiled and said "Right." He turned to Henry "I think it's time for me to be getting home. I, uh, didn't exactly tell my parents that I was leaving."

Henry just shook his head in amusement. "Takato, it's about time that your parents stopped worrying about you. Come on, you're old enough to take care of yourself."

Takato just looked at him as if to say _you don't know the half of it._ "Come on, boy," he said to Guilmon.

Guilmon got up from his sitting position and said "Okay. Bye Renamon," he added, waving at the digital fox.

Renamon merely smiled when the four left. Looking over her shoulder, she could see Rika stepping out of the shadows. "Feeling better?"

"Yes. Thanks Renamon, for understanding." she said in a soft tone.

Renamon merely nodded.

* * *

"Can't sleep?" 

"I've been sleeping the equivalent of eighteen hours a day since I got here. Of course I can't sleep right now!" Rika said, moving into the couch that is in front of the TV. She turned it on.

"This is Channel 9 Breaking News." This got Rika's divided attention. _Probably some stupid teenage prank._ "We are at Guilmon's Hideout at the West Shinjuku Park." This got less of her attention divided. "As you can see, some vandal has written 'I love Gogglehead, signed Rika.'" The camera zoomed in on an all-too-familiar structure that indeed had "I ♡ Gogglehead -Rika" spray-painted in pink on one of the walls. The TV now had her _un_divided attention. It also took all her willpower to not throw the remote through the T.V.

"I'm going to kill Kazu!" she shouted to the T.V. "I don't love that stupid Gogglehead! He's just a friend! A very close friend. Almost too close…" she trailed off. Renamon just looked at her, not believing her strange reaction. That she would say something on the lines of ending Kazu's life wasn't surprising, however saying Takato was a _very_ close friend _was_ surprising.

"It is still unknown who wrote the message, but some think it's a friend of Rika's. Rika Nonaka…" Rika turned off the T.V., not in the mood to hear her own life story.

"Rika?" She looked over to her partner when she heard a hint of humor in her voice. "Are you feeling… well?"

"I'm fine, Renamon." She said emphatically.

"Then why are your cheeks red?" There was more humor in that tone, and Rika didn't like it.

"Have you ever heard of a blush before?" She asked dangerously sarcastic. She hadn't even noticed that she was blushing, thinking about that stupid Gogglehead. _And what I'm going to do to his friends._

"And you seem to be acting strangely." Renamon finished her comment.

Rika just glared at her partner. "Are _you_ implying I have a crush on that poor, stupid excuse of a Gogglehead?"

"All I am saying is that you are acting stranger than usual. Is it possible that you have _feelings_ towards Takato?"

Rika just closed her eyes, not really answering the question and not in the mood to answer it either.

"_Has the last squadron been transferred?"_

"_Yes, Master, it has."_

"_Begin releasing the remaining clones."_

"_It shall be done."_

Rika's eyes snapped open. "Renamon. Did you hear that?" she asked, turning to face her friend.

"What? Your heart going pitter-patter?" Renamon joked.

Rika's blush deepened. "No! I meant the voices from our dreams."

Renamon instantly forgot about baiting her Tamer, despite the intense redness of her cheeks. She turned serious. "No. What did they say?"

"Just that the last platoon has been transferred and that more clones are going to be unleashed." she said nonchalantly, then added seriously "I think we need to be on our toes." Renamon merely nodded.


	8. The Two Rings

_I really need to tell my friends soon, but how am I going to do that? I want Takato to be my Best Man, but how can he if he doesn't even know who I am marrying?_ Henry sighed as he took an engagement ring and paid for it. Walking outside the store and into the mall, he sighed and looked at his watch. It read 1:51 PM. _They are probably worrying about me, but I'll be fine._ He thought as he walked to the parking level.

Little did he know that he wasn't the only one buying an engagement ring that day…

* * *

"Where's Henry?" asked Rika, looking at Takato. When he failed to answer, she stated "Terriermon's here, so I would assume that Henry must be close."

Although Takato was used to Rika's attitude, she seemed to be more distant from him, as if trying to prove something. He wasn't aware of the little "prank' that Kazu and Kenta pulled, which was probably for the best: his commenting on it would have probably ended him up in a one hundred-year coma. Luckily for the two pranksters, they hadn't arrived yet. They two would have been in big trouble if they showed up first. Kenta might survive on the virtue that Rika found him less annoying alone, but Kazu would be in the Land of The Dead. Jeri and Susie were the only others there, both oblivious to the fact that Rika was acting colder then usual towards a certain gogglehead.

"He said he had to get something." Takato said. Rika began to open her mouth, but he cut her off. "And no, he didn't tell me what it was." Takato added quickly.

"We're here!"

Rika instantly tensed, waiting for the right time to get rid of them.

The first thing Kazu and Kenta heard when they entered the door was a very emotionless "Leave."

"Huh?" Kazu was confused. "Why should we leave? Just because the news networks didn't include the little 'I love Gogglehead dash Rika' in their morning report doesn't mean that we can't say it here."

"Yes it does. Leave now and I may spare your lives." Rika responded in the same emotionless tone that scared Jeri, Takato, and Susie more than they wanted to admit. She turned her head slowly towards the door. _Apparently their stories about her were correct, despite what my brother said, _Susie thought. Kenta and Kazu, however, weren't even phased by it. Rika's little hold of the bubbling emotions in her snapped and she walked over to the two who were about to get her wrath. She started walking slowly towards the two, wanting to make pretzels out of them.

However, both Kenta and Kazu were saved by a very unlikely person.

"Kenta, Kazu; For the sake of your lives, leave this house for now."

Rika stopped and turned towards Takato. She then turned back to where Kazu and Kenta were. Who she saw was a very confused Henry looking over his shoulder.

"What did they do now?" He asked.

"Apparently they wrote 'I love Gogglehead, signed Rika' somewhere." Came a voice whose tone was remarkably similar to Rika on a good day. Looking over, Rika was surprised to see Susie acting in such a strange way. She wasn't acting like the same Susie that she knew two years ago, and that attitude seemed familiar…

Rika just turned to Susie and said "That attitude is very unfitting of you, young lady."

Susie's eyes got big for a second then she glared at the door. "I'll be back," was all she said as she walked out the door.

"What's wrong with her?" asked Rika.

Takato was looking nervous, so Henry said his mind: "You've been her role model for the past two years." Rika sighed and rolled her eyes. "And her most prevalent sources of information about you came from Kenta and Kazu. Mostly Kazu."

"So I have been dramatized as a big fat meanie," Rika surmised.

"Worse: you've been portrayed as being pure evil: That despite their best efforts, they couldn't get the Ice Queen to befriend them; that you rejected Kazu's marriage proposal;" he paused to get Rika's reaction, which would have been priceless except for the fact that she was trying not to laugh. One of her worst nightmares ever since meeting Kazu was being or getting married with him. "…and that you tried to murder both of them in your sleep. Yes _your_ sleep." Henry added when Rika looked like she was about to correct him.

"'I'm going to kill you… _zzzz._ You are not a worthy Tamer… _zzzz._ Prepare to meet your doom… _zzzz.'"_ Takato acted out by walking with his arms outstretched in front of him, swaying side to side as if drunk or asleep. Rika just chuckled and shook her head at his paltry attempt at acting.

_Ring._

Rika half sighed, half groaned. "That's it!" she said as she took her cell phone out of her pocket. She muttered something along the lines of too much phone time and swimming with the koi. She, however, never got that far. Everyone's digivices started beeping and everyone ran outside to find the digital field.

* * *

"I wonder why Rika's not here. She should be here. I told her friend, and her friend told me that he would tell her." Michael babbled as he dialed Rika's cell phone number. He and his sister were just outside the airport, each holding their Digimon: Michael had his Elecmon, and Alisha had her Pixiemon.

"Michael, calm down. Everything's going to be Okay. She probably ran into traffic." She didn't get to finish her calming speech before their Digivices went off.

Michael groaned. "Now we won't get picked up. She'll probably go off and fight it on her own."

Alisha just sighed disgustedly. "Come on. Let's see who we're up against." She said as she took out her dark green with red-trimmed Digivice. She let Pixiemon go, and he began to beat his wings.

"Where to, my Tamer?" He asked.

Her response was instantaneous. "Where the Digimon is."

Pixiemon nodded and cast a sphere spell, making it easier to go unnoticed. He then waited while everyone got in it. After everyone was in the sphere, he himself got in it, and it shot into the air before going straight to the Digital Field that was a block away from Henry's apartment.

Unfortunately, they weren't the only ones from Rika's college experience who came to Japan…

* * *

The digital field wasn't far away. They all entered the Digital field with Rika's phone still ringing. When the Digimon appeared, Rika's phone stopped ringing, but few people noticed that, mainly because they were up against another Deva.

"Pajiramon," Rika gritted out when she saw the sheep.

"Rika, this Deva has the same aura about her as Vajramon and the dark Garuru­mon." Rika just looked over at Renamon, surprised that she didn't say anything earlier. "I tried saying the same thing when we met the other cloned Deva, but I didn't have the energy to do that. It's almost as if something had sucked away all of my energy," Renamon commented.

"And I was sleepy." Rika added. She then glanced at her partner, and her partner glanced at her. They both thought the same thing: _Biomerge_. They both nodded knowing what was needed to be done.

Guilmon and Takato apparently came to the same conclusion, because they were already Gallantmon. Rika said "Biomerge Activate," and she and Renamon turned into Sakuyamon.

"Hey, Rika! Don't you think that that's a little bit of overkill." Rika looked over and saw Kazu, Kenta, Susie, an Andromon, MarineAngemon, and Antylamon.

Both Rika and Renamon said "No" at the same time; Rika testily, Renamon thoughtful.

"Okay, whatever. You're both weird," he said. He turned to Pajiramon and said "You're about to get wasted! Andromon, show her who's boss!"

"It's not nice to beat up a lady, but it will be my pleasure." Andromon responded as he used his Gatling Attack to delete the fellow Ultimate. The explosion was a pretty good one, but it didn't delete the Deva. It didn't even make that big of a scratch (.5 in.). This surprised everybody that hadn't seen the fight against Vajramon, which was Jeri, Kazu, Kenta, and their partners. Henry was about to Biomerge himself, but Antylamon stepped in front of them and momentarily distracted the two.

It was enough for Pajiramon.

Antylamon didn't even know what hit her. All she remembers is getting in front of Henry and Terriermon, and then… nothing.

Gallantmon and Sakuyamon watched in dismay as Antylamon's feet took out Henry and Terriermon. Both were lucky that she de-digivolved before falling on them.

"None shall defy the Dark Sovereign!" Pajiramon yelled.

"Nobody hurts my friends!" Rika gritted out angrily, then shouted "No one! Amethyst Gale!" She swept her staff and a purple light followed her staff. The light then went straight towards Pajiramon doing more damage to her than Andromon, but it still wasn't enough to get rid of her.

"Lightning Joust!" Gallantmon cried out, aiming his lance at Pajiramon. However, it did less damage than Sakuyamon's attack, but it did infuriate the Deva just the same.

"Thunder Stomp" She reared up, then came back down, causing a shockwave to hit everyone. Sakuyamon and Gallantmon were knocked off their feet, same as Andromon who de-digivolved to Guardromon. Everyone got up and groaned, with Sakuyamon and Gallantmon splitting up.

"Foolish humans! You cannot defeat me! I am a Deva to the Dark Sovereign, and all those who defy him shall be destroyed!" The Pajiramon shouted.

"Pixie Bombs!"

_What the… where did the Pixiemon come from?_ Rika asked herself, looking around for the pink little Digimon. The Pixie Bombs didn't do much, if any, damage to the centaur-like sheep. However, that wasn't the only new Digimon that joined the party.

"Howling Crusher!"

The attack goes right through Pajiramon's human back, beginning the deletion process.

Jeri, the first one up, holds out her Digivice and scans the big cat "Saber…Leo…mon," all the memories of Leomon, her deceased partner, comes back to her and over­whelms her. She faints. Rika looks and sees her on the pavement, not moving. She then looks over at the newcomer and uses her own Digivice to get info on their Digimons. "SaberLeomon: Mega, special attack: Howling Crusher." She then scans the other one "Pixiemon: Ultimate, special attack: Pixie bombs." She looked over and saw Michael and his look-alike sister coming out of, what appeared to be, thin air.

"Lopmon!" Susie ran over to where her Digimon had fainted. Takato and Rika run over to their fainted friend, but Takato beat Rika. Rika, growling, then went to Henry, checking to see if he was OK. For the most part, he was; he just got the wind knocked out of him.

Sighing in relief, she asked "How's Jeri?"

Takato looked her in the eyes and says "She's fine. It almost looked like she passed out for no reason."

Rika looked at SaberLeomon, who had de-digivolved back to Elecmon. "Saber… _Leo_mon," she said, understanding why her friend fainted. She then looked at Michael. Although he didn't know he was the cause didn't help him much in Rika's opinion.

"Guys, what are we going to do about Jeri?" Everybody looked over to Takato and Jeri.

Henry notices where they are and says "My apartment isn't that far away. I can take you all there." Everyone nodded except the newcomers, who were a little shocked that a stranger would invite them; and Jeri, who wasn't conscious enough to even hear the request.

"Sounds good to me." Rika responded in a slightly cheerful manner, then she looked over to Michael and his sister. "You two can also come," she added evenly, not knowing where they came from or what they're doing here.

* * *

After laying Jeri on the couch, Takato and Guilmon went to meet the Unknown older Tamers a bit better. He already found out that they were from the United States. And he could tell from the Digimon that they were Tamers. And at least one of them knew Rika well enough not to bother her in her current mood. For some odd reason, Takato wasn't surprised that it was a guy, mainly because Rika got along with so few girls. Meanwhile, everyone was getting along (except Rika and Renamon) when Henry looked at his watch and tensed up.

Henry cleared his throat and ordered "Everyone out, please. Susie, take Terrier­mon." Everyone looked at him, the newcomers with surprise and the local Tamers with defeat and resignation in their eyes. They knew that when he got in one of his "moods" there was no way he was getting out of them, except with time. Everyone got out of his apartment, with Renamon disappearing into the shadows from a glance from her Tamer.

Jeri was left on the couch.

* * *

"Is there a reason why he acted like that?" asked Michael on their walk to Rika's house. Henry's change of attitude confused Michael a bit, mainly because he was under the impression that he was a amicable person. They had all decided to walk to Rika's house after Henry booted them out of his apartment, mainly because it was close.

"Girlfriend," Rika stated, not elaborating.

"Girlfriend?" Mike asked, confused.

Takato, knowing that Rika wouldn't explain what she meant, elaborated. "Henry has this secretive girlfriend that we haven't seen."

"I don't know if _she's_ secretive." Added Kazu.

"Yeah, it more like he's secretive _of_ her," added Susie, carrying a still un­conscious Terriermon. She looked down at her brother's Digimon and commented "Why do I have to carry Terriermon? I know I played with him when I was younger, but he's _Henry's_ Digimon, not mine!"

"Probably because Terriermon would say everything about his girlfriend because he has a big mouth," commented Rika, grinning.

"Do not," was a sleepy retort that was heard.

Everyone chuckled.

After a few minutes of silence, Michael got to business. "Have you encountered Digimon like that before?"

"Yeah, we beat 'em all before. Guess they want a little revenge," blurted out Kazu before anyone could stop him.

This confused the U.S. Tamers. "You mean that you have fought Digimon with a darkness about them?" Asked Pixiemon.

This confused everyone except Takato, Guilmon, and Rika.

"Vajramon," Rika stated.

"And maybe _Renamon's sister._" added Kazu, looking around for Renamon. When she didn't come, he asked everyone's thought out loud: "Hey, where's Renamon? I expected that would get her to come out of hiding."

Pixiemon answered his question. "That is because she is not here." Everyone looked at the flying puffball. Rika was the only one glaring at it. "She stayed in the apartment owned by the Tamer known as Henry." Everyone looked at Rika. Rika continued to glare at him.

"Rika, you know it's rude to invade other's privacy," stated Kazu as he leaned in towards Rika. Rika glare shifted from the pink furball to the loudmouth.

There are a lot of different kinds of glares: The glare that Rika gave Pixiemon was saying "Please don't tell," while the glare that she was giving Kazu said "You have no room to speak you dead piece of wasted matter."

Kazu recognized the glare as potentially harmful to his health and stood straight up. And backed up.

"What did you do?" asked Alicia, glancing slyly at Kazu.

"None of your business," Rika answered for him.

Alicia turned towards her and looked her straight in the eyes. "Listen, Ms. Rumiko-wannabe…" The Japanese Tamers stopped and held their breath. Alicia had just done the unforgivable: Saying that Rika was like her mother. Another unforgivable thing to say to her is that she would make a great model. Not knowing that those are the two things that really get to Rika, and noticing that this woman looked like her childhood idol, she made a comment that could have cost her more than dead silence. "…if I want your opinion, I'll ask for it."

Rika turned and faced her fast-becoming enemy. She walked up and whispered in her ear "I am _not _like my mother!" before walking home, leaving everyone to stare after her like she was some demented being. And it was wise to keep their distance.

Now that Takato had a chance to think about it, Rika _did_ look a lot like her mother, facially, and the only real differences were her hair and frown, not to mention the lack of make-up. His imagination led him to what their children would look like…

_Aah! What am I thinking! We aren't even married yet, not even _dating,_ and I'm thinking about _children? _What's wrong with me?_ He asked himself as he shook his head. He started to follow Rika, and the others weren't far behind him.

* * *

Henry was pacing the floor, worried. _She's never been this late before. What's keeping her?_ He was fiddling with the box that had the ring he bought, opening and closing it almost like Yamaki and his lighter.

_Ding-dong!_

He almost leaped for joy when he heard the doorbell go off. Shoving the box in his pocket, he ran to the door and opened it as quickly as possible without ripping it off the hinges. He smiled when he saw a blond with pale blue eyes. She was wearing a green t-shirt with khaki pants. They instantly hugged.

"What kept you?" Henry asked as he pulled away from her, his voice full of joy.

"Oh, nothing." she responded, smiling sweetly at him. _How am I going to ask him that I want to marry him?_ Little did she know that those thoughts were going through his mind at the same time.

It had taken her all day to get the courage to buy the ring, then to take the ring with her, then to press the doorbell.

Hearing a groan, she looked over to see a brunette on the couch. She looked at Henry's face to discover it had a look of shock on it. She asked "One of your friends?"

Henry detected no jealousy or any other hard feelings in her tone of voice, so he answered honestly. "Yes, she is one of my friends."

"You really should tell them about us," she said, turning around. Henry thought that she was insulted by this and hoped that his little maneuver would help make her happy. Getting on one knee, he took out the ring box and opened it, looking up at her head and waiting for her to turn around.

Renamon found the situation… confusing. _Why don't they just ask each other to marry? It shouldn't be that hard. Wait. The woman looks familiar. Why does she look familiar?_ She wasn't even aware that Jeri was awake, and Jeri wasn't aware that Renamon was there.

She turned around with another ring box opened in her left hand, but Henry didn't notice it.

"Alice McCoy…"

"Henry Wong…"

They both notice at the same time that they both have a ring for their future spouse. They both ended up laughing.

"Will you be my husband?" asked Alice.

"Will you be my wife?" asked Henry at the same time.

"Yes!" both of them said, and hugged each other again.

Jeri sighed and chuckled at the fact that the most level-headed of the bunch was getting married first.

Renamon also was smiling at the fact that Henry was getting engaged. She disappeared, looking for her Tamer to tell her the news. However, there were now two- no, three- somethings that were bugging her: a name, a face, and a golden cross on a necklace. She felt that something was missing, but what was it? She put it in the back of her mind, knowing they would be answered in their own time.


	9. The Cock Crows

"I wonder why Rika's so upset." wondered Michael out loud.

"Because your twin said that Rika wanted to be like her mom," Takato stated, trying to keep his anger inside but failing. Of all the tamers, he wore his emotions on his sleeves, and it showed. And when someone hurts Rika… _why in the world do I react?_ He asked himself.

They were currently in the process of walking to Rika's house. The U.S. Tamers were surprised to see Rika power-walking away in anger. Michael was the most confused. Whenever he asked her about her family, she would just shrug it off and say that he had an uneventful family. _Apparently she was lying._ Michael didn't mind being called a twin, however his sister was a different matter altogether.

"We're not twins, you… Jolly Green Giant!" she gritted out almost Rika-like.

"Huh?" Takato was wondering where that came from. True, he might be tall, but he certainly wasn't in a jolly mood and he wasn't wearing any green clothes, so the comment was pretty much null and void, in his opinion. He just stared at her in mild anger.

Sensing the anger directed at her, she she looked at Kazu. "So, does Ms. 'Nonaka' always act like that?"

Kazu smiled and glanced at Susie, knowing that this was a perfect time to bait his worst friend, replied "Yep, she even acted like that when I asked her to marry me…"

Before anyone could react to his lie, he was kissing pavement. Everyone stopped and looked.

"Oh, dear!" declared Guardramon, picking up his Tamer. Kazu got support from his Digimon, not currently ready to be on his own two feet.

"Ow! What was that?" he asked no one in particular. Nobody knew, but Takato ventured a guess:

"Renamon?"

Everyone stared at him.

"Remarkable! I only saw a yellow-colored blur!" blurted Guardramon. Everyone stared at him.

"Why would Renamon step on Kazu?" asked Alisha.

"I think Kazu is on Renamon's bad side right now," Takato said.

"You mean Renamon has a bad side?" Asked Mike incredulously. _She always seemed to be a level-headed Digimon._

"Yeah, you should…" Kazu winced, as if waiting for the blow to come. "…have seen her when her 'sister' walked into Takato's back room. I've never been so afraid of Renamon before."

"He leaked," commented Guardramon. The other Tamers laughed.

"Hey! Let's see you hold in your pee when Renamon gives you a death glare." This sobered the native Tamers, but the U.S. ones were still laughing.

Kazu was about to go into a fuming rage, when Michael asked "I would like to see a Renamon death glare," laughing the whole time.

"It's a lot like a Rika death glare." Kazu replied nonchalantly as possible.

This sobered Michael up instantly. He had seen many a-death glare from Rika, and when he mixed it with Renamon… he inwardly shuddered at the imagined sight. "I see what you mean," he said reassuringly

"Rika couldn't be that bad." Alisha stated.

Everyone looked at her incredulously. _She did _not _just say that! Did she?_ Was the thought that was running through each and every mind present, save for three: Alisha, Elecmon, and Pixiemon. The thoughts running through the two Digimons' minds was _She must be really bad. Maybe even worse than Alisha when she's angry._

Alisha got the opinion that they thought that she was. She would reserve judgment until she knew more about the person.

* * *

Rika felt Renamon's presence a split second before she walked out of the shadows. Rika could see that she was smiling.

"So, did you find out who Henry's girlfriend is?" Rika asked, trying to forget the "Rumiko-wannabe" comment. The comment irked her to no end, mainly because it wasn't true. She walked quickly home and got into her room without saying hi to her grandma. She knew that the others would be there in about ten minutes.

"Not exactly," Renamon responded still smiling, confusing Rika.

"Does he have some secret family that we don't know about?" she asked a bit put off by Renamon's cryptic response.

"Not yet," was Renamon's even more cryptic response.

"Who's his wife?" she asked with a hint of sarcasm, showing she wasn't liking this run-around via her tone of voice.

"Alice McCoy," Renamon stated, getting out of her humored tone to relay a bit of straightforward information.

This mildly surprised Rika. "Henry's married?"

"Almost," she responded, getting back into her humored tone.

Rika put the pieces together. "He got engaged." Renamon nodded. Rika smiled. "Well, I'm happy for him. In a way I was expecting Kazu to get into a bad relationship and get married." She smirked at her own thought. "I have a very high opinion of him, don't I?" Renamon didn't respond, waiting for her Tamer to continue. "When did they get engaged?"

"Today." Renamon stated. Her grin got bigger. "The circumstance that surrounded it are… amusing." Rika raised an eyebrow, wanting to know more but also knowing that she might not get it.

"His… future wife…" Renamon paused, searching for the right word.

"Fiancée?"

"Yes. His _fiancée_ wasn't even phased when she saw Jeri on the couch…"

Rika cursed, interrupting Renamon's narrative. She, as well as the other Tamers, had completely forgotten about her. "Might as well call Henry and tell him to drop off Jeri here, as well as invite him," Rika grinned "as well as his fiancée." Renamon grinned with her.

Rika took out her phone and stopped, staring at it wearily. Renamon saw this and nodded her silent encouragement. Rika nodded her thanks and dialed Henry's cell phone number.

* * *

Henry's cell phone went off, distracting Henry who was staring into Alice's eyes. The ringing also made Jeri start. Alice noticed her reaction, but didn't say anything. Henry reached into his pocket and got out his cell phone and frowned when he saw Rika's name on it. _What's her problem now!_ He asked himself irritably. "What do you want!" he asked with irritation into the phone, surprising Alice. She hadn't seen him react like that, but then again she hadn't seen him when the subject of his girlfriend was brought up.

"Jeri," Rika simply said. "If she's up, bring her to my house, and bring your _fiancée_ with you." Henry heard humor in the last part, but didn't know where it came from.

Henry's eyes got wide. "How did you…" they quickly narrowed. "You sicced Renamon on me."

"I didn't _sic_ Renamon on you. If I sicced Renamon on you, you would be dead. I told Renamon to _spy_ on you. Do you know how foolish it is to be without your Digimon? A 'wild one' could cause a big problem with you." Usually Henry wouldn't have fallen for that subtle play on words, but he was in a bad mood and not thinking clearly. "Come on over; we'll congratulate the two of you, not stare at you or your future wife like the two of you have turned into a Digimon overnight."

Henry smiled, knowing what she was doing. "Okay, but I bet you've met her before. Her name is Alice McCoy." Alice smiled, seeing Henry get out of his shell.

"I- wait… That name _is_ familiar. Where have I headed it before?" The fact that Henry might keep it a secret surprised her.

There was a pause. "Do you remember the girl that had the Dobermon, during the D-Reaper incident?" He whispered so that only Rika could hear him.

Rika instantly was reminded of a blond Teenage girl that seemed to be sad all the time and wore all black.

"Well, I hope that you will be able to make her happy," Rika said, not believing that it was possible. It seemed as if Alice was devastated when Dobermon had to sacrifice himself to make the Tamers biomerge in the real world, and Rika wondered if she had ever gotten over it. "Just come to my house a-" she was cut off. He looked at his phone and found it dead.

* * *

"Just come to my house and introduce Alice to the rest of us, OK?" Rika waited for Henry to respond. When he didn't, Rika looked at her Cell and was angry to find that it had just died._ Sure, I've been spending a lot of time on the cell phone, but not _that_ much._ Rika then got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Rika!" Renamon growled out.

"What is it, Renamon?" Rika asked, looking at her partner. She could see Renamon's hackles were up.

"Don't you feel it?" Rika nodded, sort of knowing what was going on.

"Darkness."

* * *

Outside of Rika's house, the Tamers are stopped by Guilmon's growl.

"What is it, boy?" Takato asked, thinking he knew what it was. He would later find out that he was half-right.

"Darkness," Guilmon growled, pointing his snout to Henry's apartment. They begin running there as fast as possible.

They didn't even notice when Rika came running out of the house, saying "Bye Grandma!" as she ran out. Nor did they notice when Rika passed them.

* * *

"Would you like to use my cell?" asked Jeri, startling Henry. She then looked at her phone. "Hmm. My phone seems to be dead, too," she said surprised.

Something seemed to want to click in Henry's mind, but it didn't have the momentum to click all the way. It got as far as: Deva, Electricity loss, and… some specific bird. "Alice, would you mind trying to turn the lights on?" he asked. Despite the strange request, she went to the light switch and flicked it to the On position. The lights remained off. She flicked it back to the Off position. The lighting in the room didn't change from the same dreary gray from the light that the clouds outside would let through.

* * *

Rika got to the front of the apartment complex that had Henry's apartment in it. She, as well as Renamon, had a gut feeling that this was the place where the next "Deva" was going to show himself.

Getting in a protective stance, Rika turned around and faced the building on the other side of the street, waiting for the Deva to show himself. Rika was panting, out of breath.

"Hey Wildcat!" Rika almost burst a lung sighing in frustration.

"What… do… you… want… Ry…o?" she asked breathlessly. Ryo was walking calmly up to Henry's apartment, totally oblivious to the danger that would soon be coming. Cyberdramon was following him, his normal non-talkative, brooding self.

"I just came when my Digivice went off. Apparently, you ended the party before I could get here." Ryo said smiling.

"Well count… yourself… lucky:… I think… another… party's going to b-be happen…ing."

Hearing footsteps, she turned and watched as the other Tamers came to the building, hoping to protect their friend. Rika's eyes instantly went to her currently second-least favorite person in the whole world. She could already see Alisha glaring at her with a glare that seemed familiar and foreign at the same time. _Where have I seen that look before?_ Rika's asked herself.

"Who's the babe?" Ryo asked, nodding his head at Alisha.

"My least favorite person in the world right now." she said, having regained her wind. She then smirked and added "You two would work out perfectly," glancing at Ryo at the end, then quickly returned to her staring contest with Alisha. Ryo looked confused by the comment, but didn't say anything, knowing that Rika would answer at her own time if she so chose.

However, Rika didn't have long to dwell on where she saw the glare before, because a Digital Field popped up between Rika and Ryo, and the rest of the Tamers, separating them. It was then that their Digivices went off, signaling a powerful Digimon was in the process of Bio-emerging. Henry got out of the door to see Rika's and Ryo's backs to him. Alice and Jeri soon followed him.

"Another Deva," stated Henry, surprising everyone in their little sphere of existence.

"How do you know?" Rika asked, then noticed that Alice, who was _not_ wearing Gothic clothing, was about to ask a question herself. Rika smiled apologetically, then turned her attention back to Henry.

"I added a program on the D-Siren, making it go off any time a Deva was bio-emerging. I guess that it's a good idea I did." He just finished the sentence when the Deva fully bio-emerged, revealing that they were fighting against the rooster Deva. _I should have known! Which Deva has the ability to suck electricity out of wires?_

"Shinduramon," he answered his question out loud. He noticed that the Deva seemed to be _growing!_ When he stopped growing, he was almost three stories high, surprising Henry. "Last time I saw him he was only a quarter of that size." Henry thought aloud.

Ignoring that comment, Rika just looked at Renamon, and they both nodded. "Biomerge activate." Rika and Renamon became Sakuyamon. Ryo did the same thing with Cyberdramon, becoming Justimon.

Seeing this, Henry knew that he had to help out or Rika would kick his butt. "Terriermon!" he called out. No response. Looking around, he couldn't find his Digimon. He then remembered that he gave him to Susie. "Rika!" Sakuyamon turned around to look at Henry. "Do you know where Susie is?" he asked a little worried. _If I can't protect my future wife the day we get engaged…_

Sakuyamon smirked and said "Across the fog barrier," pointing her staff at the approx­imate area that the other Tamers were.

"So Henry, how did you defeat this Deva before?" asked Rika, looking at the four-story chicken.

"Hydro Blaster!" A jet of water shot out and hit the Deva, and another Deva came out of the concealing fog: The bunny Deva. The water, however, didn't have the desired effect; all it seemed to do was run down the Deva, not doing any real damage, and not even grounding him. "You are bigger than I remember." Antylamon commented dryly.

"Terriermon!" Henry shouted, hoping to get his partner's attention. But when he didn't get any reply (or he didn't hear the reply), he decided to try the Blue Card. True, biomerging would be a safer bet, but he wasn't close enough, and he didn't want to risk a dash to the far side. However, no matter how hard he concentrated, he couldn't get any of his cards to turn into a Blue Card.

Jeri offered her suggestion: "Maybe Terriermon is still unconscious."

Before Henry could react to the comment, Jeri tensed. Looking over, Henry saw a Digimon that had been on maybe, at the most, two Digimon episodes.

Henry wasn't the only one who noticed that Jeri had frozen. "Why does Jeri look like she sees a ghost every time she sees me?" Asked SaberLeomon.

"Long story," said Sakuyamon and Henry at the same time. Alice also pretty much guessed the same thing: Jeri lost her partner Leomon, and a Digimon that was more or less his Mega form kept on showing up.

"Corona Blaster!" A purple orb of energy hit Shinduramon, knocking him off-balance but without the force to make him fall. He retaliated by throwing a bolt of lightning at an incoming Beelzemon. True, that an Ultimate Digimon shouldn't have too great of an effect on a Mega, but for some odd reason, the "Cloned Devas" seemed to be stronger than any normal Ultimate. Beelzemon was thrown against the apartment, sliding down and saying "_OW!_" when he landed on his tail.

Justimon jumped up and sliced the Deva with his blade. However the blade didn't go all the way through the Deva's armor, but it was enough of a distraction for one Mega.

"Invincible Sword!" Gallantmon, Crimson Mode called out as he rammed his sword into Shinduramon. However, the Deva seemed to be made of electricity on the inside, because he was hurled back by a bolt of electricity that came out of Shinduramon's chest. And the bolt kept coming out and hitting everything and everyone in sight. Rika saw this and wondered how she could stop it. She then noticed that there was a manhole cover nearby. She also remembered that she, Sakuyamon, was a Shaman-type Digimon. _This is gonna stink!_ she thought disgustedly Steeling herself for the gross task, she cast a simple spell that would make water levitate. Sewer water shot the manhole cover off, and the water then went straight towards the bad Deva. Rika's messy plan worked. The electricity went into the water the moment that it hit Shinduramon. However, due to the amount of electricity in Shinduramon, the sewage was evaporating making it so that Sakuyamon had to keep pumping sewage at the Digimon. The only good thing about the sewage was that it was keeping stray arcs from hitting any Tamer or Digimon. The bad things that could be said about it was that it created a bad stench, which Rika, and even Renamon, had a hard time ignoring. They both almost lost their lunch. Also, it was potentially unhealthy. But what other grounding sources were nearby? None that would work.

Finally, the Digimon's last erg was sucked up by Mother Earth and Father Water, and his data dispersed. Sakuyamon then ended the spell, making sure that the sewage would go back into the manhole. She then collapsed to her knees, reverting back to Renamon and Rika.

"Water is not my element," was all that Renamon could say before the gag reflex tried to take over.

"Magical Tale!"

Rika looked up and saw Pixiemon twirling his staff. There arose a great wind, blowing the stench away. Rika tried to get up, but was too shaky on her feet, so she sat down. Takato walked over and helped her up. When Rika looked at him, he looked worse for wear, with soot over a large percentage of his body. When Rika looked over to Jeri, she could see that she was being supported by Alice, staring at something. When Rika followed her line of sight, she could see a badly injured SaberLeomon.

"You just did that to get on my nerves, didn't you?" Alisha asked slightly put off, glaring at Ms. Rumiko.

Alisha, in her childhood, had a bad experience with walking down in the sewers of her city. She was only five when she saw an open manhole and decided to go exploring. What she encountered would be ingrained in her memory for the rest of her life. She ran into a big rat. She hated the stench. She even thought she saw a mutant, but when she was older, she came to the conclusion that it was some sort of sewer worker. Luckily someone found her before the day was out and brought her up to the land of the living. But whenever she sees the sight of sewage, or even the scent of it, she can quickly get into a cold sweat.

"I just hope we don't have to deal with anyone else for now," commented Michael, hoping to diffuse the situation. They heard a rumble and everyone groaned, knowing that it wasn't thunder. Rika just glared in the direction of the sound, not in the mood to fight, but intending to beat up the guy that was keeping her from going to sleep.

However, she didn't need to worry about staying, because she fell asleep resting on Takato, much to Takato's embarrassment, Kenta and Kazu's entertainment, and Ryo's disappointment.


	10. Putting The Pieces Together

WARNING: Terriermon makes a joke about people sleeping together. Other than that, it shoud be fine.

* * *

Putting The Pieces Together

_Rika was walking down the aisle, with friends and family sitting in the pews. She was being led by Henry up to the altar to where the priest and the groom waited. Yes, she was getting married. And yes, she was in a wedding dress. She looked through her veil, seeing his trademark smile and blue eyes. Seeing her future husband smile made her uneasy for some odd reason, but she just shrugged it off._

Who would've believed I would marry Ryo?_ she asked herself. She looked over at Henry, who had a look of disappointment on his face. _Apparently not Henry,_ Rika thought smugly._

_She then looked at her friends. Jeri was smiling weakly, as if not happy of Rika's decision but unwilling to comment on it._

_She then looked at Takato, sitting alone with a forlorn expression in his face. She now knew why she was uneasy when she saw Ryo. She knew she was crushing Takato by taking this vow, _but I love Ryo, don't I?_ She thought awhile. Her eyes narrowed. _Or do I?

"_Do you, Rika Nonaka, take Ryo Akiama…"_

"_No." a lot of people in the church gasped with they heard her. "No," she repeated, taking a step back. "I'm supposed to marry Takato!" she blurted out, getting more gasps than her previous one word. She then turned around and ran down the aisle, past the ushers Kazu and Kenta, and out the big door. She took one last look at Ryo, then slammed the doors shut. Turning around, Rika leaned her back against the door and closed her eyes._

_

* * *

_

"But I'm fine!" complained Takato.

"You're hurt Takato. I think that it would be a good idea for you to rest." Henry responded. During their little verbal battle, Terriermon woke up, still a little dazed. It was then that he noticed that Rika was leaning on Takato, and Takato was still alive.

"_Momentai,_ you and Rika can share a bed…" responded Terriermon tiredly.

"Terriermon!" This got a reprimand from almost everyone present. Even Guilmon looked a little shocked at the comment.

"Just a suggestion…" he mumbled.

When Guilmon looked at his Tamer, he noticed that he had a red face. Normally he only had one on when he was embarrassed about something. "I'm sleepy," he said, looking straight at Takato.

Takato just smiled. _It's a conspiracy, I know it!_ "Okay boy, we can have a little nap." He turned to Henry, who nodded as if knowing what question he was going to ask.

"Don't worry, Takato. We'll even give an extra beating for Rika and you," Commented Kazu.

Takato continued to smile and said "Thanks." He then led Rika back to Henry's apartment and laid her on the couch. Guilmon was so exhausted that the moment he walked in, he fell to the floor and fell asleep. Renamon was able to find a chair to fall asleep in, while Takato went to Henry's room and laid down on his bed, waiting for sleep to come. He didn't have to wait long.

* * *

"Come on, let's leave the lovebirds alone," Kazu commented. "We got to deal with a Digimon." 

They heard a crash.

"We're too late! The Deva's out!" shouted Henry, worried out of his wits. _I hope no one else has tried to attack the Deva, whoever it is._

Too bad his fears were revealed to be true.

* * *

Toshi, the "leader" and "Gogglehead" of the new Tamers, wasn't having a good day. His Digimon's Champion form, Rockmon, was having trouble beating the snake Deva, Sandiramon. _Come on! The old fogies beat him up with three Champions! Why can't I do the same?_ His green eyes narrowed in frustration. He was about ready to pull out his blond-white hair in frustration. _I'm better than those old geezers! I could beat the D-Reaper in my sleep!_ He looked over to his friends, Kei and Akiko. 

Kei was in the same grade as his friends, but he seemed to be the sense of reason in the whole group, with piercing brown eyes that seemed to see through people. His brown hair was long and messy, rarely combed. His Digimon was a Tapirmon, currently an Apemon.

Akiko was a shy young lady, who seemed to only be a Tamer based on her imagination. She could be said to be like Takato except that she wrote stories instead of drawing. She had haunting green eyes and long, curly black hair. For the most part, she wore dresses. In fact, she rarely wore pants unless occasion called for it. **(A/N: The exact opposite of Rika, who won't wear dresses unless completely necessary, or forced to.)** Her Digimon was a Crabmon, currently a Coelamon.

"Let's attack together!" Shouted Toshi. He knew that Akiko wasn't comfortable fighting Digimon in such an open environment as a train station, but that was where the Digimon bio-emerged, so they had no real choice.

"Mega Bone Stick!" Apemon called out, leaping up and trying to knock the snake out. However, Apemon was knocked flying by a movement of Sadiramon's head.

"Apemon!" Kei called out.

* * *

_When Rika heard the slamming echo, she looked around and was surprised to see herself in a dark room. In fact, the only source of light that she could really see was a light that was outlining a high-backed chair. After a while, she noticed that the light seemed to be dancing. _Probably someone watching TV_, she thought. She tiptoed to the chair, hoping not to get noticed. All of the sudden, the chair turned around, showing a white face that was lined with ill-boding and age. He was wearing a red mask going around the eyes. In his left hand he was holding a ball that seemed to be the source of the light that she had seen earlier._

_She then felt strange and lightheaded. She closed her eyes, hoping to get her bearings back. When the feeling passed, she looked up and was surprised to be seeing the back of a Digimon with a jacket, kneeling. _Wait! Isn't this like the dreams I had two years ago. I don't remember anything happening between then and now! Which means I have amnesia, or this is a dream._ Hoping for the latter, she watched as the Digimon got up and she noticed that it had a canine face. _Almost like a Garurumon, or **Were­**Garurumon!_ Realizing that this might be a scene of the Master and Igor actually meeting, she tried to stay as silent as possible._

"_My Master," said the WereGarurumon with a jacket. When the figure in the chair made a gesture to rise, he did._

"_Shall we enjoy the view?" asked the white face in a deep voice that made Rika shiver. It also made the werewolf-like Digimon uncomfortable, she noticed. In all the years that she had spent with Renamon, Rika had picked up on all the subtle nuances of canine Digimon from her. For instance, when the fur just barely was raised and lowered again, which usually happened when Rika said something rude that she knew Renamon wasn't expecting it, was their way of showing "Goosebumps."_

_WereGarurumon got up and watched the view with his master. Rika wasn't far behind._

_"Hmm. I am surprised that Rika is not present in this battle." The master spoke. When Rika looked into the glass orb, she gasped. She could see three young Tamers battling the snake Deva._ If it's as strong as the other Deva's were, they're in trouble!_ After a few seconds of silence, the man-like Digimon spoke. "If it wasn't for that weak Matsuki kid, I am certain that she would have figure out the clues we have given her." The master said darkly. _Takato is **not** weak!_ Thought Rika angrily._

_"Master, why don't we tell her that we planted the Scholarship, had a changeling take Mr. Robinson's place for the day that Yamaki came over, and we sent my brother, Garurumon, to kill her when her Renamon was supposed to be safely in Japan?" asked the WereGarurumon._

_Suddenly it all came together._ They think of me as a big threat to their plans. I must be thought to be really powerful if they put me on their hit list._ She grinned. _And they think Takato was distracting me from filling in the pieces._ Her grin turned into a frown. "Takato's not weak!" Rika yelled before she could stop herself._

_"It seems we have a visitor." Rika froze, thinking that the "Master" had heard her. His eyes then went straight to her, and she waited for the blow to hit. Fortunately, it never came._

_The doors banged open again. Everyone turned to look at a brown-haired man wearing a suit standing there._

_

* * *

_

"Toshi, Kei, Akiko! Get out of here! You're no match for that Digimon!" They all turned to see Henry running up with a strange expression on his face. When Henry looked at the Deva, his expression instantly changed to annoyance. Looking at the other Digimon, he said "All Ultimate or higher Digimon, beat up this Deva!" Justimon, SaberLeomon, Beelzemon, Pixiemon, and Antylamon joined the fight.

"Digimodify: Matrix Digivolution activate!" Shouted Kazu, slicing a Blue Card through his D-arc. Guardramon Matrix Digivolved to Andromon.

He looked at his shoulder, where his Digimon sat. "Terriermon!"

"Ready!" Terriermon nodded, jumping off of his shoulder.

"Biomerge Activate!"

MegaGargomon and Andromon quickly joined the fray.

"Hey, Kazu!" Kazu turned to look at a very angry Toshi, a relieved Kei, and an embarrassed Akiko. "Should we try to help?"

"No. It's too dangerous for you," responded Kazu, surprising the Junior Tamers. Of all the Senior, and even Veteran, Tamers, he was the easiest to manipulate when it came to Digimon. If, however, Kazu said "No" seriously to something, the Young Tamers would know that it would be a _very _bad idea to go against his wishes.

When Kazu looked back in the direction of the fighting, he was disappointed to see that it was over. "Aww man! It ended without me?"

Henry, after splitting up from Terriermon, walked over to the Junior Tamers and said "If there's _ever_ another Deva, I want you to run from it! And contact the nearest Senior or Veteran Tamer."

"Excuse me for interrupting, but… what's the difference between a Senior and a Veteran Tamer?" Everyone's eyes turned to Michael, who blinked, waiting for an answer.

"If you don't know the social structure of the Tamers, then you aren't fit to be called a Tamer," commented Toshi proudly.

"I'm sorry, but my _younger_ brother and I are from the U.S. and we don't know much about the Tamers over here," responded Alisha a little put off.

Henry intervened, diffusing a potentially deadly situation. "We have developed our own form of hierarchy."

Terriermon landed on Michael's shoulder. "That's the kind way of saying 'Pecking order,'" Terriermon whispered into his ear. Michael chuckled.

Henry looked at his Digimon, mentally gauging how bad the comment was. Coming to the conclusion that it wasn't _that_ bad, he continued. "First, there are the…" he cleared his throat "…Babies; those are the Tamers whose Digimon can't go to Champion. Next are the Juniors; they are Tamers who can go to Champion. Senior tamers are Tamers who either can Biomerge…"

"Or have Digimon that can go to Mega," amended Michael with a quick glance at his Digimon, SaberLeomon.

"…have Digimon that can go to Mega, or had the ability to go to Ultimate for a month or more. Veteran Tamers…"

"…Are Tamers with a life." Terriermon added loud enough to be heard by all.

"Terriermon!" Henry sighed. He finished his summary: "Are older Tamers who have other things to worry about, such as work, family ("None of the Tamers have families _yet,_" commented Terriermon), or College, rather than Rookies bio-emerging."

"Letting the young ones learn. Good idea," commented Michael, nodding his head.

The Japanese Tamers blinked their eyes, surprised. He was the first to show approval of their plan. Even Rika hadn't wasn't happy with it.

"So, I wonder if the lovebirds are making babies." Every older Tamer reprimanded the bunny Digimon. He instantly clammed up when he saw the glare that he was receiving from Michael and Alisha.

"Get off me, you sick, perverted rabbit," said Michael flatly as he jerked his shoulders, dislodging him.

"Why don't the rest of you meet me at the Hypnos building? I just need to check something at my apartment." Henry said. The rest of them nodded, with the "twins" looking worried.

Ryo recognized this and whispered "Don't worry, baby. Just follow the leader," into Alisha's ear. She just glanced at him as if to say _Don't call me that again!_ Another Rika-like glare that got Ryo on the defensive. He had never seen Alisha, nor talked to her. They all walked in the direction of Hypnos, some taking trains, others driving, still others just rode their Digimon to the big building that still dominated the horizon.

"Hey Henry, I just bet you wanted to see the love–"

"Terriermon! STOP! That's not something you discuss unless the couple is married _and_ have said that they are trying to have a baby! And you NEVER talk about it in front of strangers," shouted Henry, not pleased at all with Terriermon's actions.

"Henry." He turned and looked at Alice. "Would you mind if I came with you."

He smiled. "Not at all." when she was side by side to him, he slung his arm over her shoulder. She leaned on his shoulder. They walked in the direction of Henry's apartment.

Terriermon blinked when he saw the strange sight. _So the two of them must be serious!_ A grin appeared on his face. _I wonder _how_ serious._ Within moments, his mind was working on a way to test their relationship. **(A/N: Remember, only Rika, Jeri, and Renamon know that they are engaged. And yes, of course they know that they are engaged to each other.)**

**

* * *

**

_Rika was the first to recognize the man standing in the doorway. "Takato," she whispered._

_"Takato?" repeated WereGarurumon a bit surprised, picking up on Rika's voice._

_"Takato," repeated the white-faced Digimon in a loathing manner._

_"Uh, hi Rika." responded Takato, waving his hand in her direction._

_"Gogglehead," Responded Rika loud enough for him to hear._

_"Do you wish to save your Damsel in distress?" asked Whitey to Takato._

Idiot._ "I don't know what your talking about," responded Takato. "I don't think Rika likes being called a Damsel, and I'm pretty sure that she could kick your butt," he added._

_Whitey merely smirked. Takato got uneasy. "You sure?" When Takato didn't respond, Whitey raised his hand. A red whip-like beam appeared. "Crimson Lightning!" he shouted, hurling it in Rika's direction. Rika stood still, waiting for it to hit. However, Takato wasn't as static._

_He ran over and tackled Rika to the ground, yelling "Rika! No!"_

_

* * *

_

Rika woke up when she felt arms encircling her. She opened her eyes and saw Takato's eyes open, but they had a dazed look to them, as if he was asleep. She tried to struggle free, but his grip was strong, stronger than she thought. The fact that Takato was more or less hugging her was making her very uncomfortable, and she didn't like being uncomfortable. She got so that her foot was between Takato and herself, and pushed out. Or, more accurately, kicked out. Takato went flying and landed on Guilmon.

"Renamon, you're heavy!" called out Guilmon, causing Rika to smirk. Guilmon and Takato were fully awake at that period of time. When Takato noticed that Rika had a scowl and a blush on her face, he himself blushed, fearing what he thought he did. _I haven't walked in my sleep before, and now…_ He shuddered.

"Uh, Rika? Did we…" asked Takato timidly.

"If we did, you would know because you would have your hands between your legs, screaming in excruciating pain," responded Rika in a flat tone. "All you did was hug me in your sleep."

"Oh, uh… right. Uh, sorry Rika, I, uh…" Takato was stammering, not knowing how to put his thoughts into words. "You were in my dream." Takato blurted out. "You were in a dark room wearing a wedding dress. You looked good in it. In the room was two Digimon: A Myotismon and a WereGarurumon." He was babbling, and Rika knew it.

"Takato, _you're_ heavy." Takato looked at his Digimon, who had a white face due to lack of air. Takato quickly got up.

The door opened. Everyone, including Renamon, turned to see Henry, Alice, and Terriermon walk through the door.

Takato noticed that Henry's arm was slung across the woman's shoulders, so he asked "Who's this, Henry? Your girlfriend?"

Henry smiled, shook his head, and said "Takato, meet Alice, my fiancée."

"Aah!" Terriermon fell to the ground, his plans permanently curtailed. He was looking up with a dazed expression on his face.

Ignoring Terriermon's fainting, Rika said to Henry "I need to talk to the rest of the Tamers, as well as Yamaki. Me, and I think Gogglehead, have more information about the 'Dark sovereign,' and their plans to get me removed." Takato, Henry, and Alice gasped. Terriermon also gasped when he heard it, getting out of his daze.

"But how are we going to get there?" Asked Henry, he being the first to recover.

"_Momentai,_ we can walk," commented Terriermon. Henry laughed, remembering the last time he said that.


	11. Cat Fight

Third re-upload of this chapter, making this version 4. I'm sorry, but I wasn't pleased with what I had up. I removed about fifteen lines from V. 2, mainly because I thought that it was too much info for one chapter. Don't worry, I'll add the info later in the story.

**Cat Fight**

"So you're telling me I met a changeling and not the actual Mr. Robinson?" Asked Yamaki. Everyone was at Hypnos, listening to Rika tell all she knew about the current situation, which, to her embarrassment, wasn't a lot.

Rika nodded her head. "That's what it sounded like when the WereGarurumon laid out the pieces. He said he sent a changeling. I wonder what Digimon could change into a human," she was looking at Ryo, waiting for him to answer. Unfortunately, he didn't.

"I thought Mr. Robinson was acting strange that day. So this Digimon wanted to take you out. I wonder why," commented Michael.

"He probably thought she was a big enough threat to get rid of. But I wonder why you and not, say, Takato," wondered Henry.

"He thought Takato was weak," she said sarcastically.

Many people thought this was funny. They all either heard or saw Takato single-handedly take the whole Parasimon army out with just one attack. To say that Takato was weak would be like saying that Rika was in love with Kazu.

After thinking about that analogy, Rika got to thinking about various types of "Weaknesses." One instantly got stuck in her mind.

_Do you think the reason why he thinks Takato's weak is because he shows his feelings? _She asked Renamon silently.

_Possibly._ Renamon respond just as silently. _And the reason why he thinks you are strong is because you hide emotions._

"Was there anything of interest before you came to the dark room?" asked Yamaki, snapping Rika out of her thoughts.

Rika made a quick glance in Takato's, then Ryo's direction, which nobody caught except Renamon. Not even Renamon saw the early part of Rika's dream, to which she was very grateful. "No. Nothing of great importance," she responded.

"Probably getting married to Takato," whispered Kenta to Kazu. They both snickered. Rika heard the comment and the snickering. Rika just glared at them, but it was marred by the fact that she was blushing.

They inhaled, getting ready to chant: "Rika's blushing!" But one look from her told them that she would get them later, when there wouldn't be witnesses. They decided, wisely, to do the embarrassing chant later.

"I wonder if he thinks you're strong because you bury your feelings?" wondered Michael out loud.

Rika shivered when she heard him. _I hate it when he does that!_ "I wondered the same thing," responded Rika. She then bowed her head in thought. "White-faced goggle-head," she muttered silently to herself. "feelings don't make people weak! Not acknowledging them makes you weak. Takato is probably the most-"

"Those views sound very similar to yours, don't they, Rika?" Rika glanced at Henry, glad that he had interrupted her silent ravings. _I didn't like the direction they were taking._

"I once thought so, but I've learned a lot since then," responded Rika, casting a discreet glance in Takato's direction.

"Really?" responded Michael incredulously. "Then why were you cold and emotionless when you were in the U.S.?"

"She might not have been comfortable enough to show her feelings to anyone," responded Henry.

"You sure? Because the last day…"

"Michael," Rika butted in sternly.

"Why don't you let him talk?" Asked Alisha. Yamaki sighed and shook his head. _I don't want two Rikas fighting in here._

"It's OK, Alisha. It would be better if she would talk about her college experiences instead of me." Michael said, hoping to avoid confrontation.

He didn't succeed. "No Michael. I want to hear how often she paints her toe­nails, not to mention what kind of make-up she likes."

The room got deathly quiet. The final insult had been thrown out. She would pay, one way or another.

Rika snapped. She was now glaring openly at Alisha, wanting to throw her off the top of the building. Renamon, sensing this, put a calming paw on her Tamer's shoulder. Rika just shrugged it off. Renamon now knew how serious she had just been insulted. Nothing short of blood would calm her down.

Michael tried to calm her down. "Uh, Rika, I don't think-"

"Can it, flyboy," she said flatly, not even looking at him.

Alice had gotten nervous. _Come on, she had plastic surgery to look like a daughter of Rumiko, of course she would wear make-up and toenail polish. Unless… No. She is probably an admirer gone to the extreme,_ she thought. She wanted to run. She might act like Rika when she is unsure of herself or angry, but when she's afraid, all she wants to do is run away and hide.

"Do you have a death wish or something?" asked Terriermon cheekily, getting everyone but Rika to look at him. "I mean, come on! Only an idiot insults Rika by calling her a 'Rumiko-wannabe' and asks what kind of make-up she wears! I mean, not even Kenta and Kazu ask those questions anymore!"

"Why? Is she some sort of tomboy?" she asked incredulously.

"Yes," almost everyone replied. Her face was frozen in the incredulous expression, her eyes darting from face to face, looking for deception, but finding honesty and pity.

Alisha suddenly felt a presence to her right. Turning, she saw Rika's hard face. She looked into her eyes and noticed that they were violet. _Probably wearing contacts… OOOWW! _Rika's right hand landed on Alisha's left shoulder. Her thumb instantly went to the pressure point right under the shoulder. Although she didn't cry out, everyone knew she was in immense pain. She took her right hand and hit Rika's hand with her palm, **(A/N: I don't remember what it's called when you hit something with your palm. It's annoying me, too!)** dislodging her hand. She then got into a fighting stance and jabbed her in the face. Rika was taken a bit off guard, but recovered quickly, getting into a fighting stance of her own. Everyone instinctively moved out into a circle, surrounding the fighting females.

"Ooh!" Terriermon squealed, than began to chant "Cat fight!" Kenta, Kazu, and Guardramon joined the chanting. However, Terriermon stopped his chanting when Henry glared at him.

"Rika, cut it out!" Takato yelled. All during the fight, he was trying to get Rika to stop fighting her enemy, all to no avail.

After a few punches were exchanged, Henry decided enough was enough. "Renamon," he called, looking at her. Renamon turned, and Henry could tell that she had a look of concern on her face. "I think we need to split these two up. Will you help me?" Renamon's face returned to her normal unreadable expression and nodded. They dove into the fight, not really caring who got who. It ended up that Henry got Rika, and Renamon got Alisha. Rika was still trying to get away from Henry, but Alisha was happy to be split up from the demonic fashion princess-wannabe.

"Renamon, Take Alisha outside the room. I think Rika needs some time to cool," Henry ordered. She nodded. Although her Tamer wasn't happy that she got interrupted from the fight, Renamon knew that some day she would thank her. Some day. Pixiemon followed his tamer outside the room. When Alisha was outside the room, Rika stopped struggling and Henry let her go.

"Now that that little bit of _entertainment,_" Yamaki said disdainfully "is out of the way, can we get back to the issue at hand!" He was irritated, they could all tell.

Takato got things going. "What I don't understand is why Myotismon looked so old. I mean, on the TV shows he looked like a good-looking young guy, but this one looks more like Tichondious **(sp?)** from Warcraft III."

"Without the horns," Rika stuck one finger up. "or the smoky, red eyes." another finger went up. "Other than that, I would agree with you."

"Oh, come on! Warcraft's so old!" commented the new Gogglehead Toshi.

Ignoring him, Rika continued. "And the fact that the WereGarurumon was wearing a jacket was stupid. Isn't his fur warm enough?" She asked.

* * *

"She certainly is a fashion freak," said Alisha with her ear to the door.

"No, just practical," commented Renamon.

Alisha just looked at her and asked "Does she live with Rumiko Nonaka?" sarcastically.

"Yes, she does, considering that she is her daughter," commented Renamon, slowly loosing _her_ patience.

She scoffed. "Probably got adopted when she saw how happy she was to see a fan so devoted." Her attention instantly went back to the door.

Renamon couldn't believe her ears. Alisha was acting like an imbecile! She had never acted like that in all the time that she knew her.

"Excuse me. I need to use the bathroom," she said, getting up and walking down the hall.

"And we thought that our Tamers would get along great." Renamon looked over and saw Pixiemon hovering in the air.

"Yes, but there were some _wrinkles_ we didn't talk about," Renamon said.

Pixiemon nodded. "Such as Alisha's idol being your Tamer's mother,"

"Or the fact that Rika hates dresses," smirked Renamon.

"Now there is a barrier between the two…" Pixiemon said sadly, being cut off by a shout from the other side of the door.

"You're Ryo Akiyama!" shouted Michael's voice. "The Digimon King!"

Pixiemon smirked. "They tend to be slow at recognizing their idols. That and Alisha is jealous of Rika's looks."

Renamon looked at Pixiemon, finally recognizing why she was acting the way she was.

Alisha came back, frustrated. "I can't find the bathroom. Do you know where it is?" She asked Renamon. She grinned and nodded. She was going to go the long way, just because…

* * *

"Maybe he's hiding something," said Kazu. Kenta nodded in agreement.

Rika scoffed. "Hiding something? He more or less blurted out the pieces that his master wanted me to put together," Rika commented.

Something seemed to click in Henry's brain. "You said that he wanted you to put the pieces together?" he asked. When Rika nodded, he got more nervous. "I think he wants you to join him."

Rika almost laughed when she heard this, but Henry's serious face stopped her from doing it. "You honestly believe he wanted to recruit me?" she asked. He nodded. "Why would some white-faced vampire want to recruit me into his army?"

"I don't know. Maybe he thinks your strong enough, and/or stupid enough, to join his ranks," commented Michael.

"And maybe he thinks you're pretty," joked Ryo.

Seeing Ryo, Michael came up to him and asked "Do you know a Ryo Akiyama, known as the Digimon King?" When Ryo looked at him like he was an idiot, Michael's eyes got big and he shouted "You're Ryo Akiyama! The Digimon King!" He began to stare at him as if he was the success of his life.

"Once again, Michael, you're slow on the draw," Rika said dryly.

Ignoring them both, Henry asked Yamaki "Have you been able to contact the Sovereigns?"

He shook his head. "No, the network's too congested. We can't get anything in to it, and nothing comes out but gibberish."

"Except for the Cloned Devas," Henry amended soberly. Yamaki nodded, not too happy with that.

"Maybe something big is coming through," Elecmon threw out, since his Tamer probably wouldn't recover from the shock for a while.

Rika nodded, then shook her head, then asked "When did you send your last request?" to Yamaki.

"Five minutes ago," was his response.

_Scratch that idea, _she thought. "Couldn't be his army coming through," she thought out loud.

Everybody reacted to that statement negatively.

"Army?"

"Yeah, what army?"

"Why didn't you tell us before?"

"Uhh… are you sure that there's an army coming through?"

"_Momentai!_ It couldn't be that big! Could it?"

Just then, a cloud developed right in the middle of their little fighting circle. Everybody got ready, with the Digimon getting in front of their Tamers.

"Good afternoon," came a deep male voice that Takato, Guilmon, and Rika recognized as Myotismon. Guilmon started to growl. The fog dispersed showing a flickering 3D hologram of the Digimon with what looked like the holo-projector. The description of his face was mostly accurate, except his head was more spherical than ovoid. The remainder of him, however, was dressed in the normal Myotismon costume.

"What do you want?" Rika asked, a little afraid. In her dreams, she could feel Renamon, but now… she was who knows where, leading the demented Tamer to some place far away in the building.

He grinned. "Apparently you are stronger than I thought. Reaching your mind across time and space just to learn what I was doing. I'm impressed."

"Man, this guy gives me the creeps!" whimpered Kazu, backing up. Myotismon glanced in his direction. Kazu would have wet his pants if his bladder wasn't empty. Prior to entering the room, he went to the bathroom, in dire need to empty its contents. Now he was grateful of the fact that he didn't have to embarrass himself in front of everyone by having wet pants _again._

Guardramon stepped into Myotismon's line of sight, blocking Kazu from his gaze. "You will not make my Tamer leak!"

Myotismon smirked and said "Looks like he's trying to, but isn't succeeding. Something must be wrong with him."

"Hey!" Myotismon turned to look at a slightly more confident, or maybe just angered, Rika. "I'm the only one who has a license to insult, and even beat up, Dumb here!"

He just continued smirking and said "I have an unofficial license."

"Why are you here?" asked Henry, getting to the reason why Myotismon's holo-projection was there. He had a feeling that if Rika and Myotismon went at it, they would be here for a long time.

"I've come to warn you Tamers that you are about to be destroyed." Everyone waited for him to continue. He didn't.

"You going to say something else, or are we going to stare at each other all day?" asked Terriermon.

"Terriermon!" Henry reprimanded.

"As a matter of fact," Myotismon interrupted the known lines before they had a chance of getting any longer. "I do." He glanced at Rika. "Rika Nonaka. Abandon your friends and join me, or die!"

_Idiot! Nobody orders _me_ around!_ Thought Rika angrily. "In… your… dreams… bloodsucker!" she gritted out.

"As you wish!" he said in a regretful tone. In a flash of light, his image disappeared back into the projector. It began to beep.

And then the beeping got faster.

And faster…

"Rika!" Renamon could be heard as she rammed into the door, making it fly off its hinges, and in Rika's direction. Rika ducked. The door missed her by sailing over her head.

The beeping turned into a constant tone. A red beam fired from the holo-projector, hitting the door, which was fully "blocking" Rika, and making it explode. Fortunately, the explosion wasn't a big one, but it still made Rika sweat.

"Guardian Barrage!" Guardramon aimed for the holo-projector–turned–killer–laser, knocking it out.

"Rika! Are you all right?" Rika could see Renamon was worried, and she herself was a little shook up. All she could do was nod. When Rika looked around, she could tell that everyone else was in shock.

"Too bad we didn't get to learn why the network's congested," Terriermon said, trying to get the nervous atmosphere out of the room.

"Probably bringing his castle through," Kazu said before he could think, getting stares from everyone. "What? Vampires in the movies always live in castles!"

"And you think that this is the movies?" asked Henry. Kenta shook his head vigorously.

"What did Rika say?" everyone turned to look at Alisha as she walked into the room. She sniffed the air, as if she could smell something but couldn't place what it was. Kenta stopped shaking his head, realizing that he was dizzy.

"Nothing, sister. We just got visited by an aged Myotismon who tried to kill Rika." He stopped talking, realizing that he should have stopped earlier. "And so help me, even if you're my bigger sister…" he stopped dramatically, waiting for her to say it.

Thankfully, she didn't. She apparently learned her lesson from the fight. "So, is there anything else we need to know about?" she asked, looking at Yamaki.

He shook his head and said "Not that I know about."

Rika nodded. "Good. Now, for you two's sleeping arrangements," she said, turning to Michael and Alisha. "I don't think that _you_" she pointed to Alisha. "can stay in my house, and I don't think that you two will like being separated. Henry, what about your parents' apartment?" she asked, still looking at Michael and his sister.

"They moved into a smaller one, so I don't think so." Henry said, shaking his head.

She wasn't happy about that. "Hm. Takato's house is out of the question, and I doubt Kazu will be a complete gentleman with any girl sleeping in his house…" Rika was cut off.

"Hey!"

Ignoring Kazu's outburst, Rika continued "Kenta always seems to be doing something or other in his guest bedroom,"

"And I've moved into my own apartment," Kenta added.

"And I don't know enough about the younger tamers to make you go to their houses," she finished.

Pixiemon flew over to Michael and whispered something in his ear. When he was finished, Michael looked at him as if asking about his sanity. Pixiemon just nodded, making Michael sigh. "Rika, do you think that you could get my sister to stay at Rumiko Nonaka's house?" he asked hesitantly, waiting for her to kill him.

Rika glared at him, not happy with the situation. "Maybe, maybe not," she said curtly. "Renamon, go and ask _mother_ if we can have a visitor for a while." Renamon nodded and disappeared. The room got quiet, everyone waiting for her to return. It was five minutes later that she got back, and from the look on her face everybody could tell that the answer was unpleasant. "Well?" Rika demanded an answer.

"Only one guest at a time," was all Renamon would say.

"Perfect." Rika was happy about that, and it showed. "Michael…"

"I think I could stay over at Takato's house," Michael said, not wanting to get into an awkward situation with Rika. True, it would only happen on a strange day if Rika drank 120-proof alcohol, but he didn't want even the hint of the temptation. That, and he thinks that Pixiemon has something planned for his sister and Rika.

Rika's face contorted in anger. "Fine!" she spat out. She turned around, then back around, with a look of resignation on her face. "You can come to my house," she said pointing at Alisha. "And you," she looked at Michael, pointing at him. "can stay over at Gogglehead's." Michael got confused, looking at Toshi, who was wearing Takato's old yellow-rimmed goggles. "The older Gogglehead: Him!" she said, pointing her thumb at Takato. Michael was more confused. Rika just sighed, feeling the adrenaline leave her bloodstream. "Gogglehead, explain."

"Uh, heh. I had a pair of goggles that I used to wear in my early Tamer years that I have gave to young Toshi here," Takato explained, pointing to Toshi at the end.

Rika blinked sleepily, trying to hold off the drowsiness as long as possible. How­ever, almost everyone noticed this.

"Aww, does Ms. Nonaka need her beauty sleep?" Alisha asked childishly.

Rika only response was a drowsy "Shut up," that few people heard.

"Need a ride home?" Yamaki asked, smiling.

Rika sighed. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I do."

* * *

Yamaki's car drove up to Rika's house. The stop woke Rika up, who was having unpleasant nightmares about the vampire and his henchman. Renamon was also taking a little nap, which was a bit strange. Usually Renamon was walking on rooftops, watching for anything that could be causing problems, which could be as big as a bio-emerging Digimon or as small as Impmon causing trouble. Curious about this, Alisha asked "Why are you napping?"

Renamon just said "I wish to protect my Tamer in any way possible."

"Okay," Alisha said simply.

They, with Pixiemon, were the first ones out. Rika got out slowly, trying to stay awake. Alisha, feeling pity, walked over to help her. Renamon was about to run to her Tamer's aid, but Pixiemon held his staff in front of her. Renamon looked at Pixiemon in confusion and pain, wanting nothing than to go to her Tamer and help her. Pixiemon just glanced over at the two women, as if to say, "Just watch." Renamon did just that.

"What do you want?" asked Rika, glaring at Alisha.

"I want to help you, with or without your permission," Alisha said, wrapping her arm around Rika's shoulder and helping her up.

To Rika's surprise, Alisha had a surprisingly strong hold, and she knew that it wasn't just because she was sleepy.

She wasn't happy about it, but she couldn't see any way out of it. "Fine! Just let go of me before…"

"Rika!" Alisha looked and saw her childhood idol with a look of dismay on her pretty face.

"…My mom sees me," she finished in a depressed tone.


	12. A Kingdom for My Dark Horse

_It's been a while, hasn't it? This is chapter 12, and It might not be as good of a chapter, but who am I to judge? I updated it, and I deleted the old version.  
_

* * *

**A Kingdom For My Dark Horse**

"Rika, honey, are you OK?" Rumiko asked as she hugged her daughter and the idol's arm. Both winced, not because the hug was a bonecrusher, but because of the bruises they had inflicted on each other.

"I'm fine, mom," she said, then added "just a little sleepy."

"Oh," Rumiko let go of her. "and who's this?" she asked, looking at Alisha.

She held out her hand, and Rumiko shook it. "Hi, I'm Alisha McLaud, a childhood fan of yours." Rika took this little bit of information and stored it for later use. "It is an honor to meet you."

"If you two don't mind, I would like to take a nap in my bed," Rika said, looking for a chance to take a snooze. _And I don't want to fall asleep on Alisha's shoulder, listening to them trade beauty secrets._

"Oh, sure thing, my Rika," Rumiko responded. "Follow me." She turned around, without waiting for Alisha or Rika.

"I know where my room is," she gritted tiredly.

"But I don't," Alisha pointed out as she followed her childhood idol. Rika just tried to stay awake, tuning out the babble between the two women.

Before she knew it, she was in her bed, asleep.

* * *

After a few hours of listening to Rumiko's beauty secrets, Alisha could feel herself nodding off. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Nonaka, but my brain is still on US Pacific time. I need a nap. Oh, and thanks for the room." Standing up, Alisha held out her hand, and Rumiko shook it.

The room was actually "Renamon's," but due to the fact that she liked to sleep either outside or by her Tamer, it was rarely used. Renamon graciously donated it for Alisha's use, bending into Pixiemon's plan to get their Tamers to be better friends.

Collapsing on the mat, she sighed and turned over. Pixiemon wasn't far behind, landing on the floor and falling asleep. She too closed her eyes, waiting for sleep.

"It's good to see Rika getting more girl friends," Alisha heard Rumiko say outside her room.

"Yes, she does need more friends that are women, in my opinion. But remember dear, don't push her: she'll only push back if you do," said an older voice that Alisha didn't recognize. _Friends? No way am I going to be friends with that woman!_ Alisha thought bitterly as she opened her eyes.

"I know! It's just seems like Rika just wants to spite me, no matter what!" Rumiko said in frustration.

"I know, dear. Just let her go at her own pace. I'm sure she'll find some good friends, and maybe even a good husband." Alisha could hear a wistful tone in the older voice, but she didn't know why. _Unless the older lady is Rika's Grandma._

"'HUSBAND'! What makes you think that Rika's ready to get married!" Rumiko shouted.

"She's twenty-one. Some women I knew got married when they were younger. Others were a bit too young, in my opinion." Rumiko inhaled, getting ready to shout down her mom. "I'm sure Rika will be wiser than you, and the fact that she didn't get up and marry Ryo or Kazu shows that." _Rika, Kazu, _married_? She's always at his throat, and he's always baiting her. It would be fun to watch the two,_ Thought Alisha, grinning. _but I would hate to be their children._ Her grin turned into a frown. "Perhaps she'll choose Henry or Takato."

"I don't want my daughter marrying some poor bread-maker," Rumiko said, almost pleading. _I don't know. Henry was close to that blonde, and I could swear I saw an engagement ring. I don't think you need to be worried about Rika marrying a poor baker._ Alisha thought, erroneously thinking that Henry was the poor baker.

"If she wants to do that, it's her choice. She _is_ a woman now; you can't tell her what she can or cannot do. If you try, she will only push you back harder, maybe even disown us," her mother replied sadly.

"But, she'll get into debt, she'll loose everything, she'll…" Rumiko ranted.

"She's not like you. I have a feeling that she'll get by with the bare necessities of life. Without too much complaining." There was a hint of a smile in her voice when she said that.

Alisha groaned and closed her eyes. _I just want to go to sleep!_ She thought irritably. There was a lull in the talking, making it so that Alisha could fall into blissful slumber.

* * *

When Michael looked at Takato's house, he was deeply humbled. _It's smaller than _my _house. And I thought I was poor._ "You live here?" he asked, looking at the bakery.

Takato nodded. "Uh-huh. The first floor is the bakery, and the second floor is where we sleep."

Michael nodded and rubbed his right eye. "I should have taken that nap," he said tiredly. Michael walked up to the front of the store, only to be dragged to the side door by Takato. "Takato, what are you doing?" Michael asked, confused.

"I, uh, let's just say I'm entering into my rebellious stage of life," he said, giving, in his opinion, an impish grin. Michael thought it just made him look freaky.

"You didn't tell your parents, did you?" Michael asked, rubbing both eyes with his right hand. Takato's impish smile was replaced by a nervous grin. He nodded. _Hmm. Thought so._ Michael yawned, trying to hold back on the sleep. Takato opened the side door and Michael followed.

"Takato!" He groaned, knowing he was in big trouble. Luckily for him, his mother was at the front of the store, waiting for customers. "Where have you been! Your father and I have been needing your help, and what do you do? You disappear! If you're going to take over the bakery one day, you'll have to learn some responsibility, and _not _just about Digimon!"

"Don't worry, mom. I'll help you right after I get Guilmon up into my room," Takato called out. Michael smiled. He was about to whisper that he would help tomorrow when he had a sleepy-induced brain fart, making forget what he was about to offer Takato and his parents. Takato led him up stairs to his room and bed, where Michael promptly fell asleep. _He must be exhausted to fall asleep that fast,_ thought Takato. _Probably suffering from jet lag._

Takato went downstairs, ready to help his parents with the bakery. He cowered when he saw the glare that Mai gave him, but all she did was point to a bowl and Takato knew that he needed to make dough for the bread. He sighed. _Never a dull moment around here._

* * *

_Beep-beep-beep! Beep-beep-beep!_

Alisha groaned, rubbed her eyes, and looked for her alarm clock, planning on turning it off and skipping work. But, when she looked around, she was surprised to see that the alarm clock was nowhere to be found. _Then what in Malaysia is making that stupid beeping?_ She threw off the covers and stood on the bed. She quickly realized that she wasn't touching the ceiling. Looking down, she saw that the bed was maybe three inches thick. _Where in the world am I?_

"My Tamer! We must not doddle! There is a big, bad Digimon coming through!" Alisha looked over at her Digimon to find him flying to and fro in a distracted manner. It was then that Alisha realized that it was her D-ark that was going off.

_Knock! Knock!_ "You gonna help us or not?" asked Rika's voice irritably.

"Coming!" Alisha called out. She looked around, looking for decent clothes to wear, only to realize that she was wearing decent clothes. Cursing herself, she opened the door and walked out, only to see a yellow blur go by her. She shrieked, scared stiff until she realized that it was probably Renamon. Cursing herself yet again, she followed the direction the yellow blur went. When Rika caught sight of her, she just shook her head in amazement. _And she is related to Michael? His roommates could barely get him out of bed when I come over early._

* * *

_Beep-beep-beep! Beep-beep-beep!_

Michael, of course, completely ignored the beeping noise, sleeping peacefully. He didn't even wake up when Takato tried to shake him awake. Not even the well-known call of "Food" and "Breakfast" would make him stir. Sighing, Takato took out his D-arc, turned off Michael's so that his parents wouldn't wonder who the stranger was, and got Guilmon, trying to find the location of the next Deva.

* * *

_Beep-beep-beep! Beep-beep-beep!_

"Five more minutes!" Kazu groaned sleepily, hitting the snooze button on his alarm clock.

_Beep-beep-beep! Beep-beep-beep!_

"I said five more minutes!" he groaned loudly, slapping his alarm clock harder.

_Beep-beep-beep! Beep-beep-beep!_

"I said five more minutes!" he shouted, pulling the Alarm clock's cord.

_Beep-beep-beep! Beep-beep-beep!_

"What the Heck is going on!" he asked, still not recognizing the fact that his Digivice was going off.

"You killed the clock!" said Guardramon in shock.

"It was annoying," was Kazu's sleepy response. "and it's still annoying!" he yelled, truly enraged and about to throw the clock out the window.

Guardramon picked up his Digivice and said "This is annoying, too. Should I kill it?"

"Huh?" Kazu dropped his alarm clock and took his D-arc from Guardramon's hand. His eyes widened when he realized what it meant when a D-arc went off. "Snap! Let's roll!" Kazu yelled, running out of his door and outside his house. _Man! I hope it's good enough for me to wake up from my nap, but if it's not!_

"Kazu, wait!" Guardramon followed him as fast as he could.

* * *

They all came to an open area of the park, where the fog was visible. When all of the Tamers reached it, it dispersed, revealing the horse Deva.

"Foolish humans! Do you think that you could defeat the Dark Sovereign? You are badly mistaken if you do!" Indramon shouted.

Takato wasn't happy with Indramon's tone. "Guess again, _Deva!_ Guilmon…"

Indramon raised his "hands" to the air, and called out "Dark Aura!" cutting off Takato. A shadow started going across the ground, engulfing everything. The same shadow was going across the ground was also going across the sky and on the sides, making complete darkness surround the Tamers and the Deva. When the darkness reached Rika and Renamon, Rika staggered, taken a bit off-balance, while Renamon was thrown off her feet. None of the other Tamers or Digimon seemed to have been affected in any way, however Takato didn't Biomerge with Guilmon, confusing both.

When Rika saw that Renamon was on the ground, she ran over to her, trying to see what was wrong. Kneeling down, she could tell that Renamon was having trouble breathing.

"Rika! Look out!"

Rika looked up when she heard Takato and saw a hoof moving in her direction. Grabbing Renamon, she rolled out of the way, barely dodging the attack. She felt the hairs on the back of her head stand up, and she rolled again, barely missing the big hoof.

When Susie saw her role model rolling to avoid the hoof of doom, she looked at her partner and said "Lopmon, you have to Digivolve."

Lopmon, however, didn't seem to be able to. She tried, narrowing her eyes in concentration, but at last sighed in defeat "I'm sorry, Susie, but for some odd reason, I can't Digivolve."

"We're screwed," commented Susie, looking back at Rika and Renamon.

Rika's was starting to get tired dodging the hoof, secretly wondering when he was going to use his Desolation Horn to wipe them out of existence. Rika stopped rolling to get a breather, trying to get her head to stop spinning.

"Rika!"

Rika looked at the hoof, unable to tell which way she should roll. Luckily she was saved by an unlikely Digimon.

"What're ya doin,' huh!"

Indramon's attention was redirected to the new threat, barely missing Rika and Renamon. Beelzemon came flying out of the sky and hovered in front of the horse Deva. He was in his Blast Mode, with his corona canon on his right arm and his raven wings outstretched.

"Who dares defy the Dark Sovereign?" Indramon asked indignantly.

Beelzemon just glared at him, remembering the last Indramon he fought as Impmon, his Rookie form. "I do! Ya got a problem with that, then take it up with my gun! Corona blaster!" Beelzemon called out, shooting a ball of purple energy at the horse.

"Rika!" Takato ran over to her and helped her up, leading her and Renamon to a safe area. Basically where he was before he ran over to aid her.

Beelzemon didn't even notice Takato's actions, being too drawn into staring down the horse. However, said horse seemed to have a bit of confidence, despite being up against a Mega. And Beelzemon was feeling the the best Mon in the Digital world; that he was unstoppable; that he could take over the world; that no four Sovereigns could beat him. He didn't know, or at this time care, why he felt that way. _The stupid horse_, he thought, _must be feelin' the same. _

"Foolish Digimon!" Indramon roared. "Do you think that you can defeat me?" The straps that hold the horn on the Digimon's back disintegrated, and the horn started to ascend. "Desolation Horn!"

"Corona Blaster!" Beelzemon yelled, holding his right arm and firing the canon at the horn. The purple orb impacted on the horn and held for a while, before the horn disintegrated.

"Impossible!" Indramon yelled, shocked and enraged. Beelzemon just smirked and started to draw a star with his big gun.

"Corona Destroyer!"

The big purple ball of energy shot at the big horse, whose last words were "Nooo…" But when the Deva was gone, the dark zone was still there, making Rika worry a lot. The fact that Renamon hadn't been getting better after the defeat of the Deva was really making Rika paranoid. She looked at Renamon, not knowing how much longer she would remain in her bad condition. When she looked back at Beelzemon, however, she saw something that made her blood go cold. His Corona canon was pointing straight at _her!_ She hadn't seen him go rogue for a long time, and she didn't want her or any of her friends to be at the business end of his guns.

"Impmon!" "Impmon!"

Rika looked at the source of the voices and saw, a boy and a girl, quite possibly twins, one with a Digivice, and the other with a card. Beelzemon turned in the direction of the voice and saw his Tamers and gritted his teeth. _I don't need my Tamers… What am I thinking!_ He closed his eyes. _Of course I need my Tamers! _He then noticed that he felt something dark surrounding him and penetrating him.

_But they make you weak._ Beelzemon heard a dark, seductive voice in his head say.

_They don't make me weak! They make me strong. Their care for me and their love for me makes me stronger than ever!_ Beelzemon yelled back into his head, hugging himself as if trying to rip himself in two.

_You can become stronger if you use _me. Said the dark voice. _My only request is that you delete your partners_.

_I don't want power! I _won't _kill my partners! Never!_ "Never!" Beelzemon yelled out. A yellowish light surrounded Belzemon and started to rip apart the dark area, making a bit of the sunset's light to peek through. The light exploded, and everyone had to shield their eyes. But for a brief moment, Rika could swear that she saw Beelzemon have golden clothing and a gold helmet.

When the light dimmed, Beelzemon sighed and started drifting to the ground. At twelve feet off the ground, he de-Digivolved and started to fall to the ground.

Rika felt something move at her side and saw Renamon jumping to catch Impmon. When Renamon tumbled to the ground and Impmon noticed who saved him from hitting the pavement a bit too hard, he smirked and mumbled out "Thanks, toots," before falling asleep. Renamon was right behind him in the sleeping bandwagon, curling up around him.

"Aww, how cute!" Terriermon said obnoxiously loud. Rika, enraged, got up and was about to run over and kick the bunny as far as she could, but was restrained by a hand on her shoulder. Looking over her shoulder, she saw, to her great surprise, that it was Ryo. He just smirked a little when he saw her look at him.

"Relax, Wildcat. Let him have his fun," he said. Rika wasn't happy with this advice and turned to face him fully, glaring at him. She then turned to glare at the Digital bunny, but while turning, she caught sight of a large area of flesh in an area where wouldn't have been visible in normal circumstances. She stopped her turning and saw that it was Kazu.

"Nice shirt, Kazu." she remarked dryly. "How much did you pay for it? I bet you got it _gratis."_

"Huh?" This comment confused Kazu, until he looked at his chest and realized that in his haste to get to the Digimon he forgot that he usually napped without his shirt and everyone had a view at his moderately flabby stomach. Kazu blushed and did many classic "I'm a Macho Man," poses, getting everyone to groan.

"Just get a shirt on," Rika demanded, walking back towards her house.

Alisha merely shook her head at Kazu's actions, looking for her brother. When she didn't find him, she turned to Takato and asked him where her brother was.

He got embarrassed and scratched the back of his neck, embarrassed, and said "I couldn't wake him up."

Takato, thinking that Alisha was thinking he was the idiot, said "I'm sorry," in a depressed tone.

Alisha smiled at him and said "Don't worry; it can be a pain to wake him up if he isn't taking a nap."

He got embarrassed and scratched the back of his neck, embarrassed, and said "I couldn't wake him up."

Alisha smacked her head, remembering how hard it could be for people who don't know Michael to wake him up.

Takato, thinking that Alisha was thinking he was the idiot, said "I'm sorry," in a depressed tone.

Alisha smiled at him and said "Don't worry; it can be a pain to wake him up if he isn't taking a nap. Let's go and visit my brother." She started marching in, what she thought, was Takato's house.

"Uhh… My house is _that_ way," Takato said, pointing in the exact opposite direction that Alisha was taking. Alisha corrected this error and started following Takato home.

Rika was watching them leave, angry that Takato and her were going to be alone. _Wait! Why the heck do I care? I'm not jealous, am I?_ Taking her thoughts away from Takato, she looked at Renamon and Impmon sleeping peacefully, and she knew that she didn't want to wake them. "Guardramon, I require your services."

"What can I do for you, my lady?" Guardramon asked, turning towards her.

"Hey!" Kazu yelled out.

Rika silenced him with a glare. When Rika looked back at Guardramon, she requested, "Could you please bring Renamon and Impmon's sleeping forms to my house?"

"It will be my pleasure," commented Guardramon.

Rika decided to see Michael and followed Takato and Alisha to his home.


	13. Devilish Roommate

I'm sorry that it's been awhile since I updated. I just barely watched Princess Mononoke segmented into 5 minute parts on the Cartoon Network, and am hooked. I'll continue the story, so don't worry.

I've merged my previous chapters 13 and 14, so if you reviewed either chapter, PM me or review this chapter with another one. Don't forget to tell me any errors that I have made.

* * *

**Devilish Roommate**

When Rika caught up with Takato, Alisha wasn't happy. She knew that she had come to see her brother, but she herself didn't want her to see him. But she really couldn't do anything to stop her, so she let it go.

Little did they know that they were being followed by a digital creature who was following them from the rooftops.

* * *

When Takato, Rika, and Alisha had got to the Matsuki Bakery, they were surprised to see Mrs. Matsuki pacing to and fro in front of the store. When she saw her son, she ran up and started to berate him. 

"Why did you have to bring in a drug addict into your room?"

"Drug addict?" Takato asked confusedly. "I didn't leave any drug addict in my room."

_Smack!_

Everyone turned to look at Alisha, who had her head being held up by her hand. She was shaking her head and muttering something that the rest of the group didn't pick up. However, everyone did hear "Lazy Mikey!" as she put her hands behind her and looked at Mrs. Matsuki. "I am sorry you had to see my younger brother like that. You see," Alisha plowed ahead when Mrs. Matsuki opened her mouth. "my brother tends to sleep with his eyes open."

"His eyes weren't open when I looked at him," Takato said.

"It only happens when he enters REM sleep."

"And he just stares at the ceiling?" Mrs Matsuki asked angrily, clearly not believing her. Alisha just nodded.

Mai just sighed.

* * *

The digital creature just chuckled at the absurdity of the situation. But then again, Digi-gnomes are known for their laughter. Ever since he had emerged from Guilmon's Hideout, it knew it had something to do. It had a destiny, and the time to fulfill it was close. It took one last glance at the silly humans in the process of driving a van, then started flying in the general direction of Shibuya.

* * *

"So that's why he sleeps with those eye-cover thingies." commented Rika, for some odd reason feeling anxious to see Michael. Alisha just nodded her head, not in the mood to talk to Rika at that moment. 

Seeing that Rika was tensed up, he tried to comfort her by putting his hand on her shoulder and say some encouraging words; "Don't worry Rika, I'm sure…"

But Rika tensed up more and gritted out "Hands… off!" To which Takato quickly returned his hand to the steering wheel. But Takato was too busy watching the road to notice Rika's faint blush, but Alisha wasn't. She grinned, getting ready to bait Rika when Pixiemon jabbed her lightly in the stomach with his staff.

Takato looked at his gas gauge and cursed. "I'm low on gas." Rika then noticed that he just drove past a gas station.

"Uh Gogglehead…" Rika started, waiting for Takato to realize what he did.

"We're going to the hospital first," Takato stated. Apparently the girls' nervousness had gotten to him, because he wasn't stopping for anything.

Well, maybe for a red light. Luckily for everyone in the car, it was a short light. They were in the hospital a few seconds after that. However, the van ran out of gas, but he really didn't care.

* * *

Michael moaned, starting to come around. When he opened his eyes, he was greeted by someone whom he thought he wasn't going to see for a while standing by his bed. 

"Lindsey?"

She did her ditzy giggle, and said "Yes, it's me, silly! who'd you think it was? Rika?" She then laughed as if it was utterly impossible. Then, to Mike's amazement, Lindsey's clothes morphed into a cartoon-ish Nurse's outfit, complete with hat and dress. He had to blink a half dozen times to make sure that he saw it. She then held up a syringe that made him _very_ uneasy.

"Wh-what's in that?" he asked, scared out of his wits.

"Oh, just a bit of over-concentrated morphine," she said nonchalantly. She then began to place it closer and closer to his arm. **(A/N: I _hate_ needles! Or anything else having to deal with physical pain.)** He tried to struggle, but he found out that he was restrained to his bead. With nothing else to do, Michael did the first thing that came to his mind.

He screamed like a little girl.

* * *

Alisha was having trouble trying to convince the doctor that she should see her brother. During the argument, Takato heard Guilmon whine. Takato, in all his years of being with Guilmon, has never heard him whine before. Curious, he looked at him and noticed that he was crouched low to the ground. He asked "What's the matter, boy?" 

Guilmon, who was looking at the floor, looked at his Tamer and said "I don't know, I just feel scared."

Takato smiled, not really knowing the cause of his fear, but thinking that it had to do with his first time really being in a hospital. He patted his head, not really paying attention when his friend winced, and said "It's Okay, boy. It's Okay."

Immediately after consoling his friend, there was a bone-chilling scream from, what he thought was, a girl.

When Alisha heard the scream, she instantly knew it was her brother. She also knew he was in big trouble. She started running to his room, not bothering about the blood tox report being delivered by the doctor.

"Ohh… kay?" Takato was a tad confused when he saw Alisha run to the sound of a girl screaming. He was even more confused when Rika followed her. It took only a second for him to make his decision, and he decided to follow the two crazy girls.

_Renamon!_ Rika called out silently.

Renamon, hearing her Tamer's secret request, opened her eyes and and started to disengage herself from Impmon's "hug." She froze when she heard him mumbling something in his sleep. She even blushed when she heard what he was saying, but she quickly shrugged it off and ran towards her Tamer.

* * *

"Super Thunder Strike!" Called a voice from a furry Digimon, who launched lightning from his tails; It was aimed directly at the syringe. The effect was spectacular: Lindsey glowed for a full second, dropping the melted syringe and backing away from Michael. However, it didn't kill her, which Elecmon realized he would have done with the amount of energy he put into his attack. 

Lindsey then began to laugh ditzily. "Did you think that could hurt me?"

Before Elecmon or Michael could respond, the door burst open revealing Alisha flanked by Takato and Rika. When Rika caught sight of her, she asked "What are _you_ doing here?" clearly annoyed. Lindsey's only response was to giggle and close her eyes. When she opened them again, they were glowing a demonic red color.

"Getting rid of you!" was her response as she waved her hand in front of her as if swatting something. "Darkness Wave!" She then continued to giggle her very annoying giggle. A flurry of dark energy flew in Rika's direction. Alisha, directly in front of Rika and the Wave, dodged to the left. Takato, seeing his friend in danger, got in front of Rika, but was tackled to the ground by Guilmon. Rika could feel Renamon getting closer, but she knew she wouldn't make it. She steeled herself for impending doom, waiting for the deadly wave to kill her.

It never reached her. She was saved by a very unlikely source. When it was an inch away, it turned into blue sparks that coalesced into an oval that was facing Lindsey.

"Come here to ruin my fun?" she pouted when she saw who it was. Rika was in too much shock to walk around and see who it was, but she knew that Lindsey rarely pouted so openly.

"Rika Nonaka is being singled out for a different reason now. Our Master wishes for her to join us. You are _not_ to harm her," commanded a voice that sounded vaguely familiar to Rika.

Lindsey's face seemed to become more sad than before, but at last she spat out "Oh, fine!" A black oval appeared behind Lindsey. She turned towards it, but before entering she said her passing shot to Rika: "Oh and Rika, don't mind going back: I've already blown up your stuff. Oh, and here's a little gift." she unhooked the necklace that had the huge pendant and threw it at her. Renamon, finally arriving and reacting to instinct, hit it into the wall with a Power Paw, causing it to become, surprisingly, data. Lindsey then walked into the black oval and disappeared. After both ovals, or portals, had disappeared, there hung a very awkward silence over the group. Which was broken by Rika cursing her past roommate for various reasons.

In fact, Rika was interrupted by Michael. "Uh, could somebody help me here? I'm down and I can't get up!"

"Oh, Mikey." Alisha quietly bemoaned.

* * *

"But I'm telling you I don't have any drugs in my system!" Michael stated to the doctor. 

"Are you sure? Because everyone here knows that you arrived in a drugged state," the doctor stated, clearly not believing him. Michael sighed in frustration and began to explain his very unique sleeping disorder: Sleeping with his eyes open when he reaches REM sleep.

Rika, however, wasn't listening. She was too busy thinking about her roommate. She was working some stuff out, mainly how she attacked her. It seemed to be a Digimon attack, but who's? While in her brooding, she felt a hand on her shoulder, but didn't really think much about it until the owner spoke. "Are you Okay?" Takato asked.

"I'm fine," was her distracted response. Takato knew that since she didn't twist his arm or snap at his question that something was bugging her bad.

Renamon also noticed this and came up to her, asking "Rika, something is bothering you. What is it?"

"My roommate," was all Rika would say. She needed to speak to Henry and Takato alone, mainly because she didn't want anyone else to hear about what she had to say. Finally realizing that it was ten o' clock, she decided to go home.

"Where are you going?" Takato asked when he saw Rika walking out.

Rika stopped long enough to order "Home. Call Henry and tell him to meet us there. I've got some things to say to the two of you alone."

Takato was confused by her request, but he followed it nonetheless.

* * *

It took awhile before the doctors were convinced that Michael hadn't taken any illicit drugs. After they got that straightened out, Takato dropped Michael and, on Rika's insistence, Guilmon off at his house and came with Rika to her house, with Alisha in tow. As much as Alisha wanted to be in the discussion, Rika's adamance won out over her curiosity. Henry didn't take long to get there. 

"What did you want to talk about?" was the first thing Henry asked when he saw Rika. He was standing by the door near Takato, with Rika's back to the two of them.

At first Henry wasn't sure she heard him, but finally she responded: "My roommate who I can't stand." She then paused, collecting her thoughts, and finally called out "Renamon." She came. "When searching for me in the U.S., did you ever search in apartment 3-G?"

Renamon hung her head in shame. "No, I did not."

"Why not?" she asked, her tone making it hard to tell if she was displeased or not.

Renamon was still looking at the ground. "There was a strange, dark, fearful presence there," was all that she would say.

"Did you ever see my roommate before today?"

Takato confused as to the reason of his presence, asked "Rika, why are we here?"

After silently asking her Tamer's consent, Renamon replied "She wants witnesses."

"Well, why not Michael or…" Takato started, but was cut off.

"Because I don't!" Rika yelled, finally turning around and facing, and glowering at, Takato and Henry. Takato shrank from her gaze. He was so relieved when she stopped staring at him that he didn't even hear Henry speaking into his ear until the time had passed where they could do it secretly. Rika turned her gaze to Renamon, causing her to fidget slightly.

"Well? Did you?" Rika repeated.

It took a slight moment for Renamon to think about what she was asking. "No." Rika was momentarily crestfallen, but she put it aside quickly. "Wait," Renamon said thoughtfully. "Yes, I have seen your roommate once." Renamon looked straight into Rika's eyes. "She seemed to be radiating… fear." Renamon said in realization.

"And she always wore that stupid necklace," Rika added. "and seemed to be following me no matter where I went. Even the Bathroom!" Rika said angrily.

"Not too surprising, considering that 'Lindsey' was a LadyDevimon." Renamon stated.

Rika looked surprised for a moment, then the light dawned on her. "I knew it!" She gritted out in a manner that said "Duh!" _Why didn't I recognize it sooner? The Darkness Wave should have given her away! _She thought silently to herself. Her tone, however, quickly changed. "Speaking of which, what did you do with the necklace, Renamon?"

"It broke apart," she responded.

"So it's broken?" Takato asked, confused.

"It's destroyed," Renamon stated. "Data," she added when he still looked at her confused.

"Did you feel any different when the thing was destroyed?" Asked Rika.

Renamon paused, then nodded. "Yes, I didn't feel as afraid."

Something clicked in Takato's brain. "I wonder if the necklace was the reason why Guilmon was whining."

"It's possible," Henry responded.

"Wait!" Renamon said, remembering something else. Everyone turned to look at her. "Did you say apartment 3-G?"

"Yes, Renamon, I did," Rika responded, secretly wondering why she asked.

"I think Michael tried to get me to meet your roommate before. It didn't go over so well."

"Why not? What happened?" asked Takato.

Renamon didn't respond. The night that Michael had her come with him to apartment 3-G wasn't one she wanted to remember.

* * *

"_Are you ready to meet someone new?" Michael asked Renamon. He was going to show her to someone who, in his opinion, needed someone like Renamon in her life. It was a year since Renamon had came to the U.S., and Mr. Robinson was getting tired of having to pay for her food._

_Renamon nodded. _One year, and I have not found my Tamer. Somehow, I doubt I ever will.

"_Shall we?" Michael asked, motioning to his car. Renamon's response was to jump on top of the car. Michael just shook his head in amusement and got in the driver's seat._

_After driving for a while, Renamon noticed that they were heading in the general direction of the frightening spot, a place where she hadn't been at all. Hoping that they weren't going there, she waited for what felt like an hour. When the path didn't change, she started to get very nervous and scared. She entered the car in a quick manner and asked Michael "Where are we going?" Michael glanced at Renamon, who had ended up sitting in the passenger's seat._

"_We're going to the G apartments," he responded. She could feel herself falling into a deep abyss. _Of all the places for his friend to be…

_Michael, noticing Renamon had withdrawn into herself, asked, "Are you OK?"_

_She got out of her daze and answered, "I'm fine." Michael glanced at her with an unbelieving look, but didn't comment on it. Somehow, he started to dislike the idea of bringing her to see Lindsey, but he wasn't going to stop because of Renamon's fear of meeting someone new._

_When they reached the apartments, Michael could tell that Renamon was very uncomfortable. When he asked about her welfare, he got the same answer as before. However, Renamon's unease made Michael uneasy as well. Now he felt that showing Renamon to Lindsey was _very_ unwise. Nevertheless, he still went through with it. When he came to the third apartment in the building, he knocked. Renamon could feel malice behind the door, waiting to claim her. When the door opened, the malice increased so much that she was feeling the most basest, instinctive fear to enter into the breast of any Digimon._

_She fled for her life._

_It was only later that she realized that she might have been able to catch a glimpse of Rika, but she was in no way, shape, or form going to the G apartments any time soon. In fact, she never got to see the inside of any G apartment while she was at UCLA._

* * *

"Renamon?" 

She didn't respond to Rika's question, but just closed her eyes, more or less saying she wasn't going to be answering any questions any time soon.

Rika turned to Takato and said sweetly, "Thanks for coming here."

"Uh, your welcome," he replied, more than a little surprised that Rika would thank him, considering she more or less threatened him to come. But he wasn't about to forget his manners so soon.

"Bye, you guys," Henry said, exiting the room purposely and leaving the two of them practically alone. _Did I actually see Rika _flirting He asked himself. One of the things that the Tamers haven't seen at all was Rika flirting. Ryo constantly joked that she did it with him, but she would always flat out deny flirting with _any_body. Kazu always joked that seeing Rika flirt would be akin to seeing one of the seven wonders, and Henry, at that moment, was in the mood of agreeing with him.

They weren't alone long. Takato left rather quickly, leaving Rika alone to think about things. In an attempt to get more comfortable, she ended lying on her bed, thinking about Michael's strange visit where evil Lindsey answered the door.

"Rika," Renamon opened her eyes, and told her to go to bed.

"I'm not a ten-year-old, Renamon," she said, rather peeved at being ordered around.

Renamon thought it her words were more for guidance, so she placated "The fact that fighting the Devas seem to leave us drained, we will need all of our energy. Please Rest."

But Rika wanted to watch her favorite show that she hadn't been able to watch in almost two years. However, it seemed that Renamon could be just as adamant as her Tamer. Rika, sighing in defeat, lay back down and waited for sleep to come. Before she knew it, she was asleep, dreaming about something that she completely forgot about.


	14. Dreams of the Past

I finally updated! YAY! Sorry that's it been so long, but I got distracted. I have ADD and/or ADHD and am easily distracted. The chapter might seem a little short. I'm sorry. This will also be the second to last chapter of this story.

**

* * *

Dreams of the Past**

Rika woke up sweating, waking up from, what Renamon thought, was a bad dream.

"Rika, are you alright?" Renamon asked, concerned.

At first, Rika didn't answer. When Renamon repeated the question, Rika sat up and sighed. "Do you remember when Jeri and I talked about Takato and Ryo?" The moment it left Rika's mouth, she knew the answer.

"No, I do not," Renamon responded, a bit curious to know what they talked about.

"Of course you wouldn't. It was before you were back." Rika said.

This surprised Renamon. _So this wasn't recent._ "What did you talk about?" She inquired in a playful voice.

Rika responded by saying, "We talked about that stupid, kind Gogglehead," putting emphasis on the last three words.

Renamon cocked her head, thinking something was missing. "You said you talked about Ryo, also," Renamon stated.

Rika sighed and said, "I don't want to talk about it right now." She lay back down and closed her eyes, not wanting to talk about it ever. If it leaked that she had a crush on Ryo, however short, he would never let her forget it.

* * *

Unfortunately, Rika wasn't the only one having dreams about the past. 

_Beelzemon had just deleted Leomon and absorbed his data. Jeri was in shambles. Everyone knew that Beelzemon could delete them all easily, and was told to do so. Everyone was frightened. Everyone except Takato and his partner. Takato was infuriated at what Beelzemon had done, and he wasn't going to stand for it. He had WarGrowlmon attack him, but an Ultimate is not a match against a Mega._

"_I won't let you lose; I won't allow it!" He shouted to WarGrowlmon. He then held his Digivice up to his partner. "I order you to Digivolve! Digivolve… now!" he ordered, not thinking about the consequences of his actions. He just wanted Beelzemon to pay for murdering a precious soul, and shattering another. WarGrowlmon was enveloped by a red light, and when it dispersed, a terrible dragon was in his place. It was at that moment that Takato realized what he had just done. He dropped his Digivice. When it hit the ground, in shattered into data, but he didn't notice. He _knew_ that forcing Digimon to Digivolve was a very bad idea._

_He heard maniacal laugh coming from where Beelzemon was. He turned and saw not Beelzemon, but a Myotismon. He saw an odd glint in his eye that made Megidramon's appearance pale in the fear he was feeling. He flinched when he heard Megidramon roar, and he knew that there was no way he could control him._

_Megidramon charged at Myotismon, but he just smirked and raised his arms, revealing a hidden red light in his hands. He quickly touched the ground, and when he sat back up, a crimson net went from the ground to his hands. He whipped his hands over his head, and the net wrapped around Megidramon, restraining him._

_Then the Hazard activated._

"_Yes, my creation! Destroy the Digital world for me!" Myotismon ordered maniacally. Takato tried to stay on his feet whilst the Digital world crumbled around him, but he saw a big chunk of earth heading for his head; he couldn't help himself. It hit him, knocking him out._

_Despite being knocked out, he still was able to see the end of the Digital World. It began with the Digital world crumbling, his friends being deleted, then with the death of Myotismon, and ending with his partner's death; All the time, the whole Digital World being ripped to pieces by Megidramon's Hazard._

* * *

Takato woke up with yellow eyes looking at him worriedly. He started to panic, thinking that somehow the dream had come true. 

"Takato? Why are you all sweaty?" asked Guilmon in his normal childish voice. Takato threw himself on his friend, hugging him and confusing his reptilian partner. Guilmon's reaction was to look at him inquiringly, wondering what made his Tamer do that.

Hearing someone smacking their lips, Takato and Guilmon turned to see Michael sleeping on the floor. He had done it on his own insistence, despite everyone else acting as gracious hosts. Takato noticed that his eyes were opened, and thinking he was awake, started to talk to him. It took him a while before he remembered that Michael slept with his eyes open, and that he was a deep sleeper. Takato shut up and lay back in bed, thinking about his dream. It wasn't long before he was asleep again.

* * *

Rika woke up with her heart pounding. When Renamon noticed this, she asked "Rika, are you alright?" 

Rika looked at her partner and mouthed one word: "Devas."

Renamon tensed up and started looking around. "Where?" she asked.

Rika shook her head, indicating that the Devas weren't out yet. Seeing this, Renamon relaxed.

When Rika looked at her alarm clock, she groaned. It was still 5 in the morning! Feeling the need to relieve herself, she got up and went to the bathroom.

Hearing knocking at the window, Renamon turned and saw Impmon. She went to the door and opened it. "How'ya doin', toots?" he asked in his normal don't-give-a-care voice. When Renamon didn't answer, he looked around her. When he didn't see who he was looking for, he commented "Where's your Tamer? Did she sleep outside?"

Renamon blinked, thinking that he was confusing her Tamer with her. "She is using the facilities," was her response.

Her response confused Impmon. "Whaddyamean she's usin' the facilities? She's already goin' ta work?"

"She means I was using the bathroom."

Renamon turned around. She hadn't heard her Tamer enter the room. Impmon also looked like he was surprised by her sudden appearance, but he disguised it by saying "What happened to yer hair? Did you use a hack-saw ta cut it?"

Renamon was shocked, but Rika's only response was "And why did we save your butt from the D-reaper again?" This made Impmon regret his words, and it showed.

"Could I talk to Foxy-face alone?" he asked meekly. Renamon and Rika looked at each other and coincidentally nodded at the same time. Rika left the room, looking for something to watch on the T.V.

When Rika left the room, the first thing out of Impmon's mouth was: "What was that all about?"

"What was what all about?" Renamon asked, confused.

"What do ya have planned fer me?" He asked.

"Nothing," Renamon replied, still confused.

"Then why did you and your Tamer nod at the same time?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"Coincidence," Renamon said. "What did you want to talk to me about?" she finally asked, changing the subject.

Impmon was momentarily confused by the swift change of direction, but he recovered quickly. "Did I say or do something strange in my sleep?" asked Impmon.

Renamon was grateful that her facial fur was thick enough to disguise her blush. "Yes." She said as evenly as possible.

Impmon was either not paying attention to Renamon's vocal tones or was in his own little world. "What did I do?" he asked a bit nervously.

"You just said I was a comfy, soft pillow," Renamon responded.

"Oh," he stated, clearly relieved. "so we didn't tickle each other all over and then have a nice, long kiss..."

"No, we did not," Renamon said, feeling as if her blush was going to become obvious despite her facial fur.

Luckily, both were saved from further embarrassment by a blood-curdling scream. It took them five seconds to recognize it and to react to it.

When they reached the front room, they saw Rumiko staring at her daughter, Rika, as if she had turned into a monster. Rika was looking at her with shock and surprise. Finally, Rika was able to croak out "Mom?"

Realizing how crazy she was acting, Rumiko asked a silly question: "Rika, do you love me?"

Rika was shocked by this, but replied "Of course I do, mom." _Why did you ask that?_

Rumiko sighed in relief. Rika, and now Impmon and Renamon, were totally lost.

"What's going on, mom?" Rika whispered.

Rumiko hugged her daughter and started saying stuff. However, Rika was only able to get one word out of three, but she did get that there was some kind of nightmare where she said some cruel things. Rika then reassured her mother that everything was going to be Okay.

"So we came all the way for _this_?" Impmon asked Renamon quietly, learning in the past that blurting out things would get a whack in the head by Renamon or thrown outside. Renamon just glanced at him. "What?" He asked. Renamon just sighed.

Rumiko finally let go of Rika and asked "Do you want breakfast?" Rika nodded. _I'll need all the energy I can get._

* * *

One hour later, Rika was sitting in her bed thinking about the talk with Jeri about Takato and Ryo when she felt the dreaded bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. _It's _still _too early to do anything, much less fight! _she inwardly yelled "Renamon!" She called out. 

"I'm ready," Rika turned to look at a pumped-up Renamon.

Rika nodded. She ran out of the house faster than was healthy, but she didn't care. She then remembered something from her dream with the Devas: _ Let's see if she really has feelings towards that stupid Matsuki boy._

_Oh, crap. It's bio-emerging by Takato's house!_ She thought worriedly. _Renamon! _She casted out. _The things going to bio-emerge at or near Takato's house. Carry me._

_Rika! You have gotten too heavy to carry anymore,_ came Renamon's mental rebuke.

Rika stopped, turned around, and started running back to her house, mentally berating herself for not thinking about this sooner. When she reached her house, she was even more upset. _Great! Mom just had to park in back of me, didn't she?_ She paused for a second, then ran into the house. While she was in her house looking for keys, her Digivice started beeping.

* * *

_Beep-beep-beep!_

Takato groaned. "Five more minutes," he mumbled, slapping his alarm clock's snooze button. However, his "alarm" didn't go off. He groaned again, sat up in his bed, and rubbed his eyes. At that point in time, he heard Guilmon growling. That woke him up. "What is it, boy?" he asked.

"Darkness!" He growled out.

Takato cursed. "Where is it?"

_sniff sniff_ Guilmon turned his head to the window. "Out there."

Takato gulped. _Not another one this close!_ He ran to the window, stepping on Michael in the process. The only sound to come out of him was a brief grunt and "Nine more minutes," but neither Takato or Guilmon paid any attention to this. Sure enough, there was a digital field. Cursing all the way down the stairs, he ran outside and saw the Deva: Chatsuramon. Without saying anything, Guilmon and Takato Biomerged to Gallantmon.

"We will not let you destroy our home!" Shouted Gallantmon.

Chatsuramon grinned. "You think you can defeat a servant of the Dark Sovereign? Treasure Mallet!" Chatsuramon turned into a big hammer. Gallantmon raised his shield to deflect his attack.

Seconds later, he was clenching the fist that held the shield in pain. He then realized that his shield was missing. Ignoring this, he got ready to attack. "Lightning…" Chatsuramon disappeared. "What the?…" He cried out as he was hit in the back by Chatsuramon's hammer.

A light emanated from Takato's window, but neither Digimon noticed the light and continued to spar, with Gallantmon taking a beating. The light from Takato's room decreased, followed by a big cat-like Digimon leaping out of the window and landing near Chatsuramon. Due to surprise, Chatsuramon wasn't ready repel any attack from SaberLeomon.

"Howling Crusher!" When the claw hit Chatsuramon, he yelled out in pain and fell down, but SaberLeomon's claw didn't go all the way through.

Gallantmon didn't care; he used the distraction to his advantage. "Lightning Joust!"

"Long live…!" Chatsuramon wasn't able to finish his sentence before he dispersed into data.

Before Gallantmon could utter a sigh of relief, he heard tires screech. Looking up the street, he saw a fancy, new convertible driving down the street. He was a little surprised when it stopped in front of him. He was even more surprised with who popped out.

"Rika?" Takato asked, splitting up from Guilmon's mega form. Rika ran up to him and almost hugged him, but checked herself at the last moment by smacking him up-side the head.

"What were you thinking starting the fight without me! You could have been killed!" She yelled, not noticing Takato cowering in front of her.

"Rika…" He tried to interject, but was quickly shot down by a nasty-tempered girl.

"Don't you 'Rika' me, Gogglehead! If _I_ didn't know any better, I would say that you wanted to get killed!" She inhaled, getting ready to give more of her mind when she realized she was acting a little too demeaning. "Come on, let's get you inside." she said a bit less demanding than Takato was expecting. She grabbed his left arm, planning on dragging him inside the house, but stopped when he drew in breath painfully.

_There's going to be a bruise there in the morning,_ he thought. One look at Rika's worried face made him think he would be left to his own devices.

He was wrong.

"He hurt you, didn't he?" She asked in a manner that sent chills down his spine.

"Yes," was his timid response.

"Come on," she ordered, dragging him into his house by his right arm.

At the first chair she saw, she pushed him down into it. "Sit. I'm going to find some ice." She said as she walked out of the room.

Guilmon, confused by Rika's attitude, cocked his head at his tamer and asked "Why does Rika act strange when Takato hurt?"

Renamon phased in behind him and whispered something in his ear. When she got up, he was still confused. "I don't understand. What's love?"

Takato blushed. "It's a complex thing."

When Rika walked in, Takato regained most of his composure. At least enough that Rika didn't think anything was wrong. "Here," she said, putting a bag of ice onto his arm. When he felt the ice hit his arm, he sighed in relief as it cooled his future bruises. As soon as she saw he was comfortable, she left again.

"She is concerned for you," Renamon said from behind Takato, startling him.

When Rika walked back into the room with a first aid kit, she didn't notice how Takato was looking at Renamon. She knelt in front of Takato and said "Don't move; this might sting." She held a cotton swab and started dabbing his wounds. Rika was right; it did sting. He tried to pull away, but Rika quickly grabbed him and sat him down. "I said sit still, you big baby," she said sternly.

Guilmon was still confused, but he chose to stay silent. Renamon just shook her head at how Rika was treating Takato.

* * *

At 10:00 am, when everyone thought they could sit back and relax, the Digivices started beeping. You could almost hear the collective groan all the way into space. Nevertheless, it was their duty to defend their homes from destruction, even if they had to sacrifice breakfast. 


	15. The Thirteenth Clone

Sorry that this was late. I got distracted by Ōban, Silverwing, and Over the Hedge movie. As such, it might be awhile before I will update the next book.

* * *

**The Thirteenth Clone**

Rika sat back in the chair, sighing in relief. _Two days. Two stinkin' days we had to deal with the stupid clones!_ She wasn't the only one exhausted. All of the Tamers were exhausted, both physically and mentally. From sunrise to sunset, they battled the Devas, with only an occasional short break. They all needed a long break, and they all hoped that they would get one. Somehow, Rika didn't think the respite would last long, and boy did she want to be wrong!

Before she knew it, she was dozing, and had a dream that scared her.

* * *

"_But master! That Digimon could control the Dark Aura better than you! It could _destroy_ you!"_

_I don't care! This clone must destroy the Tamers, or someone will pay. Most likely you!"_

"_But Master," responded the first voice in a placating tone, "the fact that he can manipulate it better could mean that he could destroy us all. I don't want that to happen."_

"_And it won't!" The second shouted. When it continued, it had regained most of it's composure. "It may be stronger than me, but I can control it. You are dismissed. Get the Thirteenth clone ready."_

* * *

Takato woke up from his nap, trying to remember the dream he had. It seemed to revolve around him and Rika, but other than that, he didn't remember. Battling the cloned Devas had also taken its toll on him, making him look five years older than he was. Before he knew it, he was asleep again.

* * *

_Impmon was sitting on his Tamers' roof, thinking about the Devas. He himself was sore and tired, but didn't want it to show. He felt a presence behind him a split second before it spake._

"_You really could use me." A seductive voice said._

_Impmon turned around and saw a red-eyed Beelzemon. He merely shrugged. "Eh, why should I? I like my green eyes better."_

_Red-Eyes grinned. "I could make life so much easier. Just use me and become stronger than your wildest dreams."_

_Impmon, getting tired of the rhetoric, finally stood up and faced his opponent. "Listen, buddy! I am sick and tired of hearing 'I can make you stronger,' 'you don't need your tamers,' 'The darkness is your friend.' If you don't shut up, I'll beat you to a pulp!" Impmon yelled. _

"_Then I guess you'll just have to destroy me," shrugged Red-Eyes._

_Using all his strength, Impmon summoned a big fireball from the ground and shot it at Red-Eyes. He merely swung out one of his guns and shot at it, making it disperse and deleting Impmon at the same time._

Impmon woke up from his dream, shaking his head to clear his mind. He looked around, trying to find out where he was. He observed that he was still on his Tamers' roof. The sky _still_ had the annoying gray clouds that everybody was starting to hate. And he himself was still one piece.

_What was dat all about?_ He asked himself as he dropped to the ground and headed inside.

* * *

A day had passed, and nothing had happened. Many, if not all, of the Tamers were thanking every deity that they knew. During the one-day respite, they all rested. 

Everyone, except Rika and Impmon.

Rika couldn't relax when she was anxious, wondering what "Deva" was going to be unleashed on them. From what he said, it was going to be strong. Strong enough to worry the WereGarurumon to censure his master.

Impmon was a different story. He was disturbed by his dream, trying to think about it's meaning. The fact that there was another Beelzemon confused him. _I thought I was one of a kind. Guess I'm wrong. Why did I die in my dream? Maybe I should… NO!_ He shook his head. _I'll _never _put my Tamers in danger! Or anyone else, ever again!_ He shouted in his mind, determination in his thoughts. _I am not going to use this dark power, not even if another Beelzemon pops up and uses it!_

* * *

Waking up, Rika looked outside to see the dreary gray clouds out in force. She stood up, and was assaulted by a painful feeling at the pit of her stomach. It reminded her of when the Dark Devas Bio-emerged, but this time it was way stronger. "Renamon!" She cried out, "There's…" 

"I know," was Renamon's sleepy response. When Rika looked over at Renamon, she was surprised to see her lethargic. It was at that moment that Rika herself started feeling tired, despite having a good night's rest. Looking Renamon in the eye, they knew they had to Biomerge, and quickly.

Takato and Guilmon also felt the darkness, with Guilmon almost running through the glass of the front door.

Henry also, for the first time, felt a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He left Alice hanging without explanation. He himself was very frightened. Frightened for his fiancée. Frighted for his friends. Frighted for his life.

* * *

The three original Tamers weren't the first there. Kei, Akiko, Toshi, and Susie had made it there first. The Digimon was Bio-emerging near an industrial part of the city. All of the Junior Tamers present, except for Toshi, were ill at ease. They didn't know what was coming through, but Toshi had convinced them that they could beat whatever it was. Lopmon, however, was less inclined to go with her partner. She felt a very powerful dark presence, one that seemed disturbingly similar somehow. When the fog cleared, she realized why. 

The thirteenth dark Digimon they were about to face was…

"Beelzemon?"

"Oh, crap!" Suzie uttered, realizing that it was, at best, 1 Ultimate and 3 Champions against one super-powered Mega.

"Plan?" asked Kei.

"Run!" Susie answered.

"No!" Shouted Toshi, getting everyone's attention. Everyone wanted to know his mental condition. He couldn't be serious! He seemed to be embodying _hubris incarnate._ There was no way they could defeat this Mega! Not even if their lives depended on it.

"We must leave! This is not a time for brash actions," Lopmon rebuked.

"I don't care!" Toshi yelled at the mini-Deva. Lopmon didn't flinch. "I'll show those old fogies that I am better than them! Gotsumon, Digivolve…" He was cut off as six bodies rammed into him, creating a squabble.

"How amusing," an extremely gravelly voice said, interrupting the squabble. Everyone looked to see the Beelzemon get both of his guns and point them at the Junior Trainers. He was distracted, however, when a blade slid across his back. Turning, he saw an angered Justimon.

"Deciding to pick on poor, defenseless kids again?" Justimon asked angrily.

Beelzemon smirked, and said in his gravelly voice "This is a first for me," surprising Justimon. At that moment, Justimon noticed that this Beelzemon had red eyes, not their Beelzemon's green. His surprise, however, was short lived. Red-eyes aimed and shot his guns at Justimon, hitting him with full force into a wall. After sliding down the wall, Justimon regressed into Ryo and Monodramon.

"Lightning Blade!" Red-eyes barely saw the blade coming towards him, but he was still able to deflect it to the Junior Tamers. Seeing her Tamer in danger, Lopmon did the quickest Matrix Digivolution in history. Using her bunny blades, she canceled Andromon's attack.

Toshi, however, took this as a good time to show his worth. He ordered his Digimon to Digivolve to Golemon **(A/N: GolemonRockmon)** and attack Red-eyes. Despite his multiple attacks, Red-eyes didn't even flinch. However, when he decided that the repetitive attacks were getting annoying, he merely pushed Golemon into a smokestack. He quickly de-Digivolved to Gotsumon. _Maybe, just maybe, the Veteran Tamers were right. Maybe _they_ can only defeat these stupid, strong Digimon!_ Toshi thought, clenching his fist in anger. The fact that anyone could be better than him disturbed him. He was the gogglehead; he was the leader; he was invincible. Nothing could take down the leader of the Tamers! It was unheard of! It was extremely tempting to force his Digimon to Digivolve, but he knew that he would probably be stripped of his goggles, and maybe even his Digivice.

"Toshi, come on!" Kei ordered, dragging him away from his sleeve.

"But, Gotsumon…" he trailed off, unsure of his Digimon's condition.

"I have him," answered Apemon, carrying Gotsumon in his arms.

Toshi nodded, and started running with the three Junior Tamers away.

Susie stayed behind, guarding the rear as best she and Antylamon could.

"Gatling attack!" Andromon shouted, shooting missiles from his chest. Red-eyes just shot them down. Andromon then slowly circled Red-eyes, trying to get to the same side as Antylamon. Red-eyes noticed this, but didn't seem to care. When Andromon reached Antylamon, they began a slow retreat, keeping their fronts to Red-eyes.

He smirked, then attacked them with Double Impact. Although both dodged the attack, the shockwave the bullets made hit them full force, knocking them down. Both got up quickly, not wanting their Tamers to come to any harm.

"Kahuna Waves!" To his consternation, Red-eyes was assaulted by little pink hearts with a vengeance. Angered, he looked around to find a little puffball with wings flying rapidly towards Andromon and Antylamon. He took aim and shot. MarineAngimon was hit. He was saved by Andromon catching him, but Red-eyes was angry now. _That little puffball actually hurt me!_ He took aim again an shot, this time with the intent to delete.

"Spirit Strike!"

The bullets were engulfed by three different-colored foxes.

"Lightning Joust!"

A beam of lightning hit him in the back, hurting him a lot.

"Power Pummel!"

MegaGargomon dropped from the sky, fist first, onto Red-eyes.

While everyone waited for the dust cloud to clear, Beelzemon, in his blast mode, came in and said "Did the party end without me?"

All he got were glares. "What?" he asked, confused. He hadn't seen the red-eyed Beelzemon.

A loud roar distracted everyone from staring down Beelzemon. As they turned to look, they saw three large purple orbs fly out of the dust and hit Gallantmon, Sakuyamon, and MegaGargomon. They instantly reverted to their rookie and human forms, unconscious. When the dust settled, Beelzemon gasped. Right in the center of a crater was the Beelzemon from his dreams.

"So we finally meet," observed Red-eyes, not in the seductive tone that Beelzemon was looking for, but a nerve-grating gravelly voice. It was at that time that Beelzemon noticed his nemesis was in his blast mode, with bat wings stretched wide and a nasty-looking Corona Canon on his right arm with wicked spikes protruding out at the most random places. They started circling each other.

"So this is what a Tamed Beelzemon looks like. I'm not impressed," Red-eyes said.

"So yer plannin' on killin' my friends, huh?" Beelzemon said angrily.

"That is my mission," was Red-eyes' gravelly response.

"Then I guess I'll just have ta stop ya. Corona Blaster!" Beelzemon yelled, shooting his purple ball of energy at Red-eyes. Red-eyes fired his own blast, which was easily three times the size as Beelzemon's, and easily overpowered his. Dismayed, Beelzemon shot a few more blasts, hoping to destroy Red-eyes'. He succeeded, but Red-eyes came from behind the blast and hit him with a Dark Claw, sending him crashing into a wall. When Beelzemon got up, he saw the business end of a Corona canon pointed at him, ready to discharge. A fleeting thought of using the dark power crossed his mind, but he redirected his thoughts to his Tamers, instead. _Ai, Mako, sorry I can't be with you anymore,_ were his last thoughts before the gun fired. Beelzemon vainly pulled his "shotgun" out of its holster and was about to shoot at the Corona Blast when a white light shone, canceling Red-eyes' attack and engulfing both Beelzemons.

Henry, the first to recover, saw it and wondered what angelic being had decided to come to their aid.

* * *

Red-eyes looked around, shocked. _No other Digimon could have come through! I had WereGarurumon's promise. _He thought angrily as he looked around the sphere of whiteness he was in. 

"So, we meet again, huh?" Red-eyes turned around, only to see Beelzemon arrayed in white, with a golden helmet, Dove feathers on his wings, a healthy complexion, and two eyes. He also seemed to have a cotton biking jacket, since it was rare to see white leather.

"And who are you?" Red-eyes asked disdainfully, thinking he knew the answer.

"I'm Beelzemon, and this is my Redeemed Mode," he stated, his Corona canon at his side.

"Really?" Red-eyes wasn't impressed. _No matter what he is, I can beat him! He didn't embrace the Darkness, which makes him weak! Even in his "Redeemed" mode, I will pound him to deletion,_ was Red-eyes' ignorant thoughts. He raised his own canon and looked away, as if this was a daily routine.

Red-eyes fired.

Beelzemon fired.

They both met at the middle, both vied for supremacy. Only one won.

* * *

Everyone was looking at the white ball, waiting for the outcome. From inside the shell, they all heard gunshots, and a second later, a Beelzemon punctured through the orb and landed on his back. Worried that it was their friend, they all ran to aid him. When they saw it was Red-eyes, however, they decided to forgo the aid. Beelzemon, in his normal blast mode, walked up to Red-eyes and pointed a gun to his head. 

"Where is you master, huh?" he asked gruffly. It was then that they noticed that Red-eyes was fragmenting, or in other words dying.

He laughed, and answered "No one is my master! Perhaps you are referring to that pompous Myotismon." He raised his left hand to the sky, and said his last words:

"You will see him soon enough."

On cue, the forlorn clouds that had been over the city for a while parted, revealing numorous floating platforms, airships, and flying Digimon, all waiting for the right moment to attack.

Everyone was struck; some with awe, others with fear, and others with surprise. It didn't matter which way you did the math: They were in for the fight of their lives.

_**End of part one of three. Be sure to read part two: The Great Myotismon War!**_

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* * *

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Thanks for reading. If you want me to continue, you will have to review my story.

I'm getting hits, so I know that people are reading this chapter. I want at least 5 reviews before I'll post the next chapter of The Great Myotismon War.


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